


silver eyes; crimson lips

by shadowkissed



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood, Character Turned Into Vampire, Compulsion, Feral Behavior, Human/Vampire Relationship, Immortality, Kidnapping, M/M, Mind Manipulation, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, Murder, Non-Consensual Blood Drinking, Vampire Bites, Vampire killing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:48:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 116,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24571051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowkissed/pseuds/shadowkissed
Summary: “Come on, officer. Play with me,” the vampire says, nudging the tip of his nose against Soobin’s chin. “Do you taste as sweet as you look?”(or a vampire au where officer!soobin has to deal with another vampire who's way too obsessed with tasting his blood. and more.)
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu/Choi Soobin, Choi Yeonjun/Kang Taehyun, Huening Kai/Kang Taehyun
Comments: 378
Kudos: 870





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> tw/ blood, murder, violence (described in minor, but just in case), usage of stakes to stab vampires, BLOOD, a lot of biting, some feral behaviors, some mentions of blood slavery and girls kidnapping for unconsented blood feeding; please proceed at your own risk
> 
> I leave this story unrated but there won't be any sexual elements or gore description. I'm just not sure what rating to put it on with all the murders..
> 
> the main ship will be soobin/beomgyu with side taejunkai, but all the members will have their stories broken down in their own time, so even if I will be focusing on the romantic development of soobin/beomgyu ship, this story won't be solely focusing on that ship.
> 
> note: the oc names aside from txt that are used in this fic are not associated with any other kpop acts

The night is young.

From a distance, a faint sound of police sirens could be heard, along with the buzzing of the city life that never stops. There is a pitter-patter of what remains from the heavy rain early in the night, wetting the shoulder part of the young male’s white blazer as he walks briskly down the alley. He appears to remain unbothered to it.

What bothers him is the stench of blood and fear wrapped around him the further he walks into the cold mist of this particular neighbourhood. This kind of place is always avoided by humans during the dark; except for some unfortunate souls that somehow always end up being led there from neighbouring alleys full of nightclubs. Their intoxication brings them into an endless sleep, in the pool of their own blood. Their bodies always discarded among the trash like rotten rags.

It’s no surprise, judging from the tall, blackened buildings surrounding this area, shaping a perfect dark alley full of dad ends; a perfect trap for playing chase.

“Scared, bin?”

The voice calling out to him from the device clutched in his fingers elicits a displeased scrunch of his nose. He glares at the source of the problem. It comes in the form of a blonde haired lad whose face displayed proudly on his phone screen.

The real him is somewhere in his home, probably sprawled on his bed from whatever he did during daytime. “Don’t worry. I know that you’re capable of dealing with petty crimes on your own without your legendary sunbaenim.”

“I know. I already said that I’d be okay, but you insisted on ‘keeping me company’,” he says, sucking a breath through his teeth out of irritation at the mocking tone traced in Yeonjun’s nasal voice. “It’s just this one area anyway, right? We never encountered any oddity here.”

“The clean-up teams do, though. Corpses drained off their blood, with their neck torn and sometimes worse. That’s why we have to patrol on three different schedules,” Yeonjun rolls his eyes. “Did you even read today’s protocol? I might be hungover, but I still read it.”

“Why do I have to read when hyung does all the reading?”

He ignores a follow-up nagging session from the senior as his eyes scan the dirty walls of the alley. With every step of his shoes that splash onto a tiny puddle of water on the uneven ground, the stench is getting stronger.

_Blood_.

It’s not just a residue of nasty fights. He is just realizing it now after recognizing the weight of what’s been happening around the neighbourhood, and the thick smell tangible in the air.

“Choi? Are you even listening to me?”

“I’ll get back to you later, hyung. Need to check on something.”

“Choi Soo—“

He barely pays attention to what the latter has to say, just before he hangs up the call altogether. Once he tucked the phone back into the pocket of his pants, his legs carry him faster to the direction of the smell. His nose twitches at the metal stench filling the air, all too familiar for him that it makes his stomach twists with disgust.

It hits him particularly hard when he reached a corner of the alley, just as he almost made another turn. This time, it’s also companied by a whimper of someone begging for his life, as well as rustling of fabric as hopeless fingers try to pry something away, to no avail. Because the slurping noise is what dominates the scene. The unmistakable noise of thick blood being sucked out of two small puncture wounds.

For a split second, Soobin sees red.

The next thing he remembers is the sting on his legs as he jumps out of his hiding place, straight into the source of his problems. He mildly registers the sight of a boy bending over a limp body on the muddy soil, and then it disappears just as his hand reaches out for the pair.

His hand splashes over the mix of rain water and blood on the ground, splattering some onto his pristine white shirt. It’s irritating, but he can’t mull over it as he is taken aback over the sight before him when he lifts his gaze.

A young male who looks around his age is glaring at him. His shoulders are rising and falling along with his batted breath and his eyes are wildly assessing his arrival. Upon a more careful look, you can see two sharp points protruding from between his red lips, a stark contrast of white against crimson blood dripping from a corner of his mouth down to his chin.

“Get away from the body,” he warns, straightening himself to take a step closer. “You have no idea of what you’re doing, but we can help if you give yourself up and come willingly.”

Judging from how messy the scene is, this guy must be a newly turned vampire who went on a feeding rampant, unable to control their newfound desire for the sweet elixir. They are dangerous, but not strong enough for someone like Soobin to fear. He was trained for this.

Their eyes are locked in a silent contact for a few painful moments, with choked gasps from the dying man being their background noise. Then something happens, as if a switch is being flipped.

The vampire’s eyes stop flashing in its shiny grey colour, dimming into deep black. The pair of eyes round up, losing their predatory glint at once as they stare at Soobin, complete with tears welling inside the clear orbs.

“I-I’m so sorry, officer. This man followed me around asking for my number and I—I didn’t know what happened, suddenly he’s on the ground and—“ he stops with a sob, lifting his bloody hands to wipe the remnant of the substance on his lips, only to end up smearing it some more across his cheek.

He flinches as Soobin takes a step closer, lifting his arms over his face to guard himself.

Despite almost killing the man, the vampire looks absolutely broken that Soobin can’t help but to feel a little pain inside his chest. He knows how hard it is for new vampires to cope with their hunger and confusion of suddenly being cursed with this predatory nature of theirs. Especially ones who are not guided once they fully turned. They always go feral, losing their humanity at some point and driven to a beastly state of mind with no way back.

So it’s not his fault that his heart breaks for this little teary-eyed vampire.

“Hey, it will be okay. You should come with me and we will take care of this together, okay?” he says softly, crouching down a safe distance away from the vampire.

“I’m just so, so hungry,” the vampire sniffles, fists still uselessly covering his face. “I’m always hungry.”

Soobin sighs, running his hand through his own hair, exasperated at himself. He has no idea how he could switch off his instinct to fight and turn it into empathy so quickly.

“We’ll help you with that too.”

“You will?”

“Yes, promise.”

He sees a round eye peeking at him through the gap of fingers, scrutinizing him and judging if he is trustworthy. And then he sees the flash of silver coming back, a little too quickly for him to react.

There is a smack on his chest, and the next thing he knows is that he’s thrown backwards at the contact. Wetness from hitting the puddle of rain water on the ground makes him cringe, and the pain hasn’t even dawned on him yet when he feels a weight on top of him, pinning him down to the ground with a pair of hands on top of his chest.

Damn. He is strong. How could a newborn be this strong?

The vampire is straddling his waist, smiling so brightly as if he is about to unwrap his Christmas present. It paints an eerie picture especially because of all the blood painting his cheeks and hands, smearing the front of Soobin’s top.

“Thank you! I was wondering where I could find more pretty guy to feed on. I’m still hungry, you see.”

Soobin is lying down on a pool of mud and blood, with a feral vampire sitting on top of him, ready to drain his blood as well. Instead of fear, he feels his breath stops for an entirely different reason.

It is the flashing grey light inside the pair of sparkly eyes that captivated him, matching so perfectly with the silver moonlight shining through the dark clouds. Vampires are beautiful, that’s just the way nature works, but he has never found one as beautiful as this one. Even with a borderline psychopathic smile plastered on his pretty lips.

“You have three seconds to get off of me,” he finally says, fingers circling around the guy’s wrist.

The vampire is not faltered. His soft laughter tinkling throughout the empty alley as he leans in, bringing his face closer to Soobin’s. This time, he does feel the rush of something in his veins, one akin to fear. It gets stronger when he feels a soft breath caressing his neck, knowing that the vampire can hear the pulsing of blood in his veins. Just one bite, and he will be totally defenseless.

“Come on, officer. Play with me,” the vampire says sweetly, nudging the tip of his nose against Soobin’s chin. “Are you as sweet as you look?”

A touch of gentle lips on his neck is what snaps him back into his right mind.

Shutting his eyes, he finally reaches his hands out to place them on either side of the vampire’s head. He can hear a questioning hum from the guy, followed by a sickening crack as he snaps the vampire’s head to a side and breaks his neck in one swift movement.

His eyes only fall open again the moment he feels the body slumps completely against his front, heaving a sigh as he recounts the whole situation of his first solo patrol. First, his white uniform is totally ruined now. Second, the victim is probably dead already judging from the lack of whimpers and calls for help. And third, he has an unconscious vampire on top of him.

Now he knows why he still needs Choi Yeonjun as his partner even when he deems the guy useless countless of times.

“Okay, let me do a quick review. You caught a vampire attack in action, and then you killed the vampire.”

“Yes.”

“You killed the vampire, thinking that he is just some rampant, new-born vampire.”

“Yeah.”

“The vampire turns out to be a pure-blood, aka the one you shouldn’t randomly kill.”

“I know,” he drops his head completely to the table, knocking his forehead gently against the wood with every chant of _stupid_ that leaves his lips.

The interrogation room is no place for hanging out, but it is somewhat calming for Soobin, to stay here instead of getting mocked by his other seniors or partners in the building. He is always known for his flawless records of capturing stray vampires and dealing with the issues quickly. It’s just sad, that his first time ‘killing’ a vampire is also a big mistake in the eye of the system, when the other officers do it every other day – after all, feral newborn vampires are deemed as a near-hopeless case while pureblood vampires almost always gets freed unscathed.

He has no qualms about going for the higher ups in the food chain of the small vampire society, knowing that he got the power as an authoritative figure. He just doesn’t like all the troubles it might bring to his life.

They can be nasty, the full-bloods. Always thinking that they are so much better than everyone else, and that all the born-human vampires should be grateful of them.

Yeonjun, the source of his problem, is laughing loudly where he is sitting across of him. His laughter fills the room with absolutely nowhere to go, as the blonde tips his head back and slaps repeatedly on the table. Soobin mildly wishes that the elder would stumble back on his chair and crash to the floor.

“Why did you even kill him? It’s so unlike you.”

At once, his thoughts go back to what happened just barely an hour prior. He can recall them all, the view of sharp canines peeking out from blood stained lips, the whimpering human slumped on the ground, the weight pinning him down. And then there was the glint of hunger in the vampire’s silver eyes that reduced him into a prey.

He had never felt so hopeless ever since he turned into a vampire. It unknowingly set his thoughts in disarray, leading him to think that the only way he could survive it was to kill the beast.

Still, he couldn’t tell Yeonjun that the vampire wanted to suck his blood. The guy wouldn’t let him live for months.

“Are they really immune to the law, though? I read the files, okay. This guy went on a killing spree every night, so at some point, we have to arrest him anyway.”

“If you read the files, you’d know that those victims didn’t die in his hands,” Yeonjun sat straight on his chair now, ridden of the annoying smirk.

“You said they were corpses—“

“There’s no proof that it was him, and those people who expired never died on action, always en-route to the hospital. We could charge him for the last one since you caught him in the act, but the dude is still alive at the hospital now, just a li’l traumatized. ”

Even after studying the law and being the enforcer for years, Soobin can’t wrap his mind around this. How smart this one vampire could be to find the loopholes that would grant him an upper hand over the system. Not to mention he also got his privileges to back him up when needed.

“What do I do?” he finally slumps in despair, extending both his arms forward on top of the table.

“Bribe him.”

Soobin blinks up at him.

“Sometimes I’m questioning if your brain has finally rotten at some places after running non-stop for like hundreds of years.”

“My brain is still pretty functional, thank you,” the other scoffs. “Anyway, do it before he could cry to his dad or something. He looks like a spoiled brat type.”

“Should I be scared of his dad?”

“The heads of full-blood houses are generally powerful, but Choi Beomgyu? His dad is the founder of the Council officers. So, if you still want your job…”

“Please just kill me,” he deadpans.

The thought of the little rampant vampire being a possible long-term problem to his peaceful life never crossed his mind. Unfortunately, Choi Beomgyu’s kind of trouble is more than just a pair of gleaming silver eyes that stunned him mid-fight.

===

The vampire in question is now awake in the holding cell, lying on the sorry excuse of a bed as he stares at the ceiling. He blinks a few times, trying to process what’s happening to him by tapping into the pieces of memories floating in his head. Everything aches when he tries to move, but the most troubling pain sits on his neck.

A puzzle of memory falls into place. The remembrance of a pair of soft hands on the sides of his face. Then, a loud crack.

The fucking officer broke his neck.

“What the hell…” he grunts, finally finding the strength to push himself up to sit. He arranges his position to have his back against the wall, head tipped back for support.

As he recalls the scene from last night, he remembers leaving the photoshoot site early, waving good bye to his manager and stopping by at his new favourite bar. It’s a crowded one, making it easier for him to pick up his dinner. Just as any other night, he managed to lure some clueless lamb to follow him outside, probably thinking that they will make out or more.

Mortals are so adorable.

The officer is cute, too. He looks tastier than the previous guy, so Beomgyu might have been a little rude. It’s so unlike him, though, to prey upon the people working under his father. It’s just that the purple haired guy evokes this feral form of greed in the pit of his stomach ever since the very first second he laid his eyes on him.

It’s a kind of feeling he can’t decipher, and he chose to succumb into his predatory state of mind instead of trying to make sense about it.

Which is a mistake.

The flash of purple in the officer’s eyes warned him too late. He was dead before he could recognize the implication, that this is one of the non-human officers.

And the very same purple eyes are staring at him from across the room now that he has gained focus in his eyes. Their eyes are locked in yet another silent battle as the blood-stained one from the previous night.

“You are a vampire,” he says softly, realization filling his head now that he is fully recovered from his short-term death.

The guy looks offended for a moment there, eyes narrowed at him.

“You attacked me without knowing that? Imagine the trouble you’d have gotten if I weren’t one.”

“Well, I’m still getting in trouble anyway,” he turns his gaze away, looking at the pristine white wall of the holding cell.

“About that…”

When he looks back at the officer, he noticed that the intimidating purple eyes have gone back to their original state. The soft pair of eyes that he saw the night before; one that led him to mistake the guy to be a mere human. There is no way this guy is anything but the physical form of soft and gentle.

“Actually, I’m here to apologize. I shouldn’t have done that,” he continues, a grimace on his lips.

“Killing me?”

“Yeah.”

Now that Beomgyu thinks about it again, he absolutely did not deserve that. Sure, he might have fed on some humans without their permission, but he never left them to die on a ditch like some other feral vampires. He always paid taxes to human governments too, as well as wearing contact lenses every time he posed as them.

He didn’t break any major law. The officer had no right to kill him.

If he were intimidated and guilty about making a move on a vampire officer that he thought was a human, now he was angered. Despite his vampire blood making it faster for him to heal, deaths are still an unpleasant experience for him.

The officer probably senses his spark of irritation, because he flinches on his seat.

“Listen, Choi Beomgyu-ssi—“

So he knows who he is. That’s even better. More intimidation value. Beomgyu smirks, cutting off what the guy had to say. “What’s your name?”

“Choi Soobin. I—“

“You’re here to bribe me, right? You don’t want me to report your unpleasant behaviour to the council?” 

It’s amusing, watching Soobin squirm on his seat. Sometimes he does enjoy the status and privilege that come with his blood, despite the downsides that outweigh them all. The other vampire looks more like a trapped bunny than anything else now.

Perhaps that explains the itch he still has in his guts to devour him.

“Whatever it is, I’m not interested,” he singsongs, kicking his legs lightly from where they dangle off the bed. “Unless you let me have a little taste of your blood.”

“Wha—“the guy gapes at his request. His lips parting and shutting a few times, as though the words do not have enough weight to leave his mouth.

“Just a tiny drop, please? I’m asking nicely this time!”

It is nothing taboo for a vampire to drink blood from their own kind, though it is not a norm either. The only reason is for the fact that no vampire would let themselves be treated as a cattle, or something less than a predator. Vampires take pride in being the superior race, thinking that they are on top of the world, and humans are just important as a machine to produce blood for them.

Letting another vampire feeds on them is a sign of indignity. One akin to losing their alpha titles in a pack of wolves.

“Are you insane?” Soobin finally finds his voice. It’s loud, carried across the room and making Beomgyu scrunch his face up. “Stop joking around about that, for god’s sake.”

“I’m not joking. Just letting you know what I want, since it’s supposed to be a bribe—“

“Okay, I’m not doing this,” the vampire throws his hands up in defeat. Lines of irritation adorning his face now, completed with the way his perfectly sculpted lips are turned down. “I thought you were just some hungry newborn vamp, but you are actually sick.”

Beomgyu blinks, not getting the sudden insurgence of anger. “I just brought it up again because you wanted to make a deal. How is that my fault?”

“Screw that. I don’t care about your power or influence, I’m never letting you get your way just for your sick satisfaction.”

“It’s not like that,” his lips are pursed into a pout, actually offended now.

But Soobin is not listening anymore. He brings storm into his steps as he gets up from his chair, taking a few strides towards Beomgyu who appears to shrink under the intimidating gaze.

“While you’re trying to blackmail me into feeding your sick fantasy, please know that I’m aware of what you’ve been doing. All the feeding sprees which left people die in pain? No matter how much power you have, someday you will be arrested and tried. I’ll make sure of it.”

Beomgyu is the one caught by surprise now, staring at the other guy with his lips parted in daze. He is only snapped back into the present state upon receiving a jab on his chest, and it’s too late for him to say anything since Soobin is already leaving the cell with a click of lock on the door.

He just got lectured by someone he is supposed to woo into letting him feed on him.

Even worse, he can feel the guilt stirring in his chest, settling down in his stomach like a lazy cat.

Soobin is actually right. He is doing something illegal by feeding on involuntary prey, quenching his thirst on random people he met on the bar. He is the typical villain vampires pictured in classic literatures. A monster with insatiable hunger.

As he mulls over it, letting his guilt eat him up, the door unlocks from the outside again. He perks up initially, only to be left in dejection when it’s not the purple haired officer coming for him.

“You can leave now, sir. Your driver is here to pick you up.”

At least today is not the day he will be tried.

He can see it happening in a near future, still. Especially with how the hunger has grown inside him more and more each day, clawing his stomach and throat from the inside. It is fine now, since he just fed barely several hours ago, but it will come back every night because of a certain cause.

The certain cause that he can never use to appeal for his innocence in the court of the vampire councils.

It comes in the form of a red haired male sitting on his bed as he walks into his bedroom, staring at him with round eyes void of emotions. The first sliver of daylight seeps through the white curtains covering the window, signalling the break of the dawn.

“I didn’t think you’d still be waiting here.”

“Just finished work anyway, I’m more surprised not to see you sleeping like a baby.”

Beomgyu laughs, walking his way towards the bed where he crawls towards the male sitting in the centre of it. “Are you getting used to being a nocturnal creature?”

“Cut it out,” Taehyun hisses at him.

Any trace of irritation dissipates from his face as Beomgyu brings his arm up, keeping it hanging stagnantly between them. It’s always funny, to see the attempt of restraint swimming in the round eyes staring at the blue veins on his wrists; especially with the fact that Taehyun visits him every other day just for this purpose.

Because in the end, he will lose against his battle yet again. His eyes flutter shut as he leans forward and press his lips against the inside of Beomgyu’s wrist. The tips of sharp canines graze his skin as a gentle warning before they sink in deep.

It stings. Beomgyu cried the first time they did this, but he’s getting better at enduring it

He just has to look away.

After all, it’s his fault for being selfish, unwilling to let his best friend die in the accident. It’s a devastating one that cost the life of their other friend. She was beyond help, but Taehyun. Watching Taehyun with blood all over his face and whimpering in pain. Is it his fault that he wanted his friend to live on, even as something he doesn’t want to be?

What he didn’t expect is to see Taehyun suffer more as a consequence.

His face is filled with bliss as it always does whenever he’s done. Head tipped back and lips decorated by remnants of blood. And then a drastic change comes over his expression as his eyes changed back from its crimson colour, darkening along with the realization and guilt plastered all over his face.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry,” he would hiccup then, rubbing his mouth with the back of his palm and shutting his eyes tightly. Probably disgusted by the taste.

And just like any other time, Beomgyu would ask. “Do you think it’s time for a donor, Taehyun-ah? You know my blood barely means anything to you. At the end of day, you’d crave for only one thing—“

“No,” Taehyun cuts him off sharply. His face is back to its icy cold state, devoid of the broken look he had earlier. He is back to his composed self. “You know I don’t want that.”

The one thing he doesn’t want, of course. Beomgyu has heard it countless of times.

It’s only the first step of saving his life, to feed him blood from a pureblood vampire and turning him into one so he can heal faster; but in order to completely transform into a vampire, he has to drink human blood. That’s the one thing Taehyun can never do, and that’s the reason he will always be hungry and in the verge of losing his control from turning into a feral, newborn vampire.

Beomgyu would do anything to prevent that from happening, even if it means going for a feeding spree every night. Even if it means that he is doing something illegal and getting away only because of his pureblood privileges.

He will spend a lifetime making it up to Taehyun.


	2. Chapter 2

“Because of you, I have to join this useless patrol again.”

Soobin scowls as he walks next to the blonde. He is still regretting his last attempt of making a deal with a nearly-criminal vampire that ended up in getting on the very vampire’s bad side. Not to mention, he still had to complete some paperwork about the arrest while Choi Beomgyu was allowed to go home.

Vampires are nocturnal being. While the sun ray is not harmful to them, it does not energize them as much as moonlight does. Naturally, their daily lives are adjusted to this timetable unless they live in human’s time.

For Soobin, it’s both. He holds his position as one of the officers under the council and he has to report by sundown. During the day, he easily slides his way back to the human realm. A wolf in sheep’s clothing.

That’s also the reason why he needs all the sleep he could have after his morning job, and now that he is not getting much of it, he does not have enough patience to deal with Yeonjun’s nagging. This old vampire can act very much like a kid when he feels like it.

“Do you want to just split up so we can cover both areas quickly?” he says. Exasperation poorly masked in his voice.

“Yeah, so you can mess up again?”

“I did not mess up!” he snaps, rolling his eyes. “We’ve been doing this together for decades, I think I know how to deal with things that aren’t Choi Beomgyu.”

Yeonjun arches a brow at that little comment which he regrets as soon as it left his mouth, but thankfully the elder lets it go.

“You’re so sure that he won’t show up again.”

“He is a privileged rich asshole, but he can’t be that dumb to be caught in a same place twice. Especially not one day away,” he says, lips twisting to a side as he thinks it over. Instantly, his mind is brought back to the sight of Choi Beomgyu sitting on top of him with his lips smeared with blood and a hungry shine to his eyes. “ _Right_?”

There’s a short pause as Yeonjun stares at him doubtfully, probably catching the slight doubt in his voice. But he finally sighs in defeat.

“Fine. Only because I have to observe a training session in an hour.”

With that, they split up the part of the shady neighbourhood for the patrol.

He always finds it amazing how someone so playful like Yeonjun can be so good at what he does. Perhaps that’s what you become when you’ve lived for so long. Nobody even knows Yeonjun’s real age; he makes himself mysterious despite his ability to befriend any soul he met. That’s the scariest kind of person.

One second, he is the hyung you play around with every day like you’re same-age friends. And then the next time you found yourself in trouble, Choi Yeonjun is ordered to execute you. He’s always the one doing dirty jobs from the snobbish higher-up council members, after all.

While still holding himself erect, Soobin finds it more relaxing to walk through the barely lit-up alleys tonight. It might be for his own conviction that the troublemaker vampire won’t be acting up again after the arrest, or it could just be for the lack of fog in the air and murky water under his shoes.

The stars are out tonight, unlike the previous day. The patrol feels more like a relaxing night walk than work for the first ten minutes, until his legs carry him to a darker part of the neighbourhood with less music sounds and flashy neon signs of nightclubs. That is, until his nose caught it again. The smell of blood.

“You gotta be kidding me…” he whispers under his breath, willing his feet to break into a run towards the direction of the stench.

It is getting more concerning that Soobin is running towards the block that he just passed. It’s a place with more people instead of a secluded one like the one where he found most of the ferals. Someone is getting attacked where everyone can see.

That should be enough of an excuse for his erratic behaviour. The reason why he lost it the moment he spots the problem.

The smell of blood comes from a car, and from the front window, he can see a long haired woman sitting on the driver seat with her head tipped to a side. _The problem_ lies in the vampire sitting on the passenger seat, the very familiar vampire that got on his nerves just barely 24 hours ago. How much of a glutton he can be? to be attacking someone else for blood after a short period of time.

It makes his blood boil, just thinking about it, and before Soobin realizes it, he is already ripping the car door open with a loud crack. That got the attention of the woman, who momentarily breaks out of her blissful state. Her eyes widened in surprise and her lips parted as though she is about to tell him something.

But it’s too late, because he is already pulling the vampire out of the car.

“What?” the guy is leaning limply against Soobin’s front, still dazed from being pulled away so abruptly from his feast.

This seems to be a reoccurring scene that he will constantly associate with Choi Beomgyu. The sight of blood dribbling down the side of parted pink lips and silver eyes glinting under the flickering street lamp, staring at him dazedly. Only this time, the guy has his guard lowered completely. His head is weakly tilted back against Soobin’s shoulder as he slowly recovers from his surprise.

“You can’t be this much of an idiot to be caught twice,” he growls, voice deep from the bubbling irritation in his chest.

His voice lights up a fire in Beomgyu’s eyes. The dazed silver in his eyes grows as sharp as a dagger. But Soobin is more alert, and it puts him in advantage to push the smaller vampire against the side of the car the moment he starts struggling against his hold. His cheek is pressed against the dirty car surface as he yells curses at Soobin.

“Let go of me! I’m not doing anything wrong this time!”

The struggling only gets stronger as Beomgyu is slowly freed from his feeding daze. Vampires are always the most vulnerable when they fed, so they never get to lower their guard too much like what this idiot is doing at the moment. That’s his biggest mistake, and Soobin is using it to his advantage, knowing that there is no way he can beat the guy if he is at his full strength.

He twists Beomgyu’s arms over the small of his back, holding them there firmly despite the way he is trashing around. And then it ends with a click of handcuffs around the wrists, followed by a soft yelp and a cease of movement from the vampire.

“What the heck is that?” he snaps his gaze over his shoulder to glare at Soobin. His eyes are teary now, clearly pained.

“Silver handcuffs. You’re arrested, Choi Beomgyu.”

“You’re so sick!” he screams, but not trying to fight against the restraint anymore.

Silver handcuffs are almost a last resort. They always reduce vampires into a useless state. If it’s just any normal handcuffs, they could break the chains easily, but with silver being toxic to vampires, these handcuffs will give them an immense pain if the metal were to cut into their skin.

“Are you okay—“the moment Soobin takes a peek into the car, he feels like the silver is cutting into his tongue instead of the other vampire’s wrists. Sitting in the car, is a girl he fined several times in the past for illegal volunteering.

Keyword: _volunteer_.

Typically, they have blood centres spread across the city, where vampires are scheduled for their feeding every week. But this kind of people still exists; humans who are aware of the existence of vampires and sell their blood for a higher price than offered by the centres. The law against it is still loose, as mate-less vampires and newborns tend to feed more frequently than what provided by the donor centres.

“Hey, officer! Stop scaring off my customers, will you?” she yells at him, a hand coming up to cover the puncture wounds on her neck. They are still oozing droplets of blood, making Soobin lightheaded from the smell.

“Sooah-ssi? How many times do I have to tell you that you should do this in a more private place?”

“Sorry that I don’t want to invite a new buyer into my house?” she rolls her eyes, flipping her long hair back from her shoulder. “Well, whatever. He already paid anyway, so can you close the door before lemon guy arrives—oh shit, here he is. Close the door!”

The officer takes a step back when she reaches out to slam the door shut (as much as it can with the damage, at least). He barely has enough time to pull Beomgyu off the side of the car before the vehicle is zooming away from them, leaving behind a puff of sand that makes Beomgyu choke between his hoarse laughter.

“You’re _so_ in trouble this time, officer,”

As if on cue, footsteps of leather boots come running at them, and Soobin doesn’t have to lift his head from his moment of shame to know that Yeonjun is there, waiting for explanation the moment he spots the very same arrest as last night.

The trip back to the office is a solemn one.

Beomgyu is the only one who’s smiling by the time they enter the building, probably calculating what kind of troubles he can bring into Soobin’s life this time. The skin around his wrists touched by the handcuffs is burning red, but it barely bothers him at this point. There’s no other choice than to bear with it since the handcuffs can only be taken off by a device stored in the office.

The fact that this has been the second errors he made in two days is concerning for Soobin. His record is always clean. He’s known as an officer who does his job cleanly, never causing unnecessary troubles ever since he got admitted.

A young pureblood randomly decided to feed in his area of patrol, and suddenly his peaceful night life goes into disarray.

“I wonder what kind of deal you’ll offer me this time, officer,” Beomgyu says in his sickeningly sweet tone. “Have you considered the thing I said last time?”

“What thing?” Yeonjun arches a brow, curious, though the lines drawn on his forehead still gives off an intimidating vibe. One wrong statement, and Soobin might find himself thrown across the room.

“It’s nothing much. This guy’s constant idiocy is baffling…”

The annoying smirk on Beomgyu’s face starts fading, and Soobin thinks that he has gone too far with his remark. An apology is ready to pour out from his lips until he noticed that the vampire has stopped walking. Eyes wide and frozen, trained at the sight ahead of them.

He understands it the moment he follows Beomgyu’s gaze that lied on a man in suit walking out from the elevator. The man still looks very young, but there are hard lines drawn all over his face which tell Soobin that there is something different about him. Something powerful.

The kind of power you’d get only after spending centuries of walking upon this earth.

“Oh shit, bad timing,” Yeonjun says under his breath. “That’s Choi Myungjoo, his dad.”

“Why is he here?”

“Remember the training I mentioned? He brought the new trainees—“

The three of them stand still as the man walks over to them. The firm look on his face only tightens when he spots his son among the three. If look could kill, Beomgyu would probably have been blasted into smithereens.

“What’s going on? What did he do again?”

This man is intimidating. Even his gaze is enough to make people fall onto their knees and apologize for breathing the same air as him. Still, Soobin is at fault here, and he will have to own up to it nonetheless.

Taking a deep breath, Soobin takes a step forward, bringing himself into attention.

“Sir, it’s a mistake. I accidentally—“

“It’s the usual, father. I fed from someone involuntarily, you know the deal with the lack of mate and all,” Beomgyu talks over him, a smug smile on his lips as he challenges the man. “It’s just that I got caught this time.”

Soobin hasn’t recovered from the initial surprise of watching the arrested vampire steps in to take the blame, that his blood runs frozen in his veins when he heard the sound of slap ripped through the vast area. It’s loud, and it’s painful, judging from how Beomgyu’s head is tilted to a side from the impact.

“When are you going to stop bringing shame to my name, Choi Beomgyu?”

There is no answer, but Soobin can trace a derisive edge on the smile forming on Beomgyu’s bleeding lips. It’s almost like he is used to this kind of treatment. Soobin almost jumps on his spot when the man whips his gaze towards him.

“Good work on the arrest, officer. We have to punish him accordingly,” he says to Soobin. “Choi Yeonjun, may I have a talk?”

Yeonjun gives an affirmative nod, pointing at the elevator with his chin when he caught Soobin’s eyes as a sign for them to go up first. He doesn’t need to be told twice to carry it out, grabbing Beomgyu by his hand to lead him towards the elevator that brings them several levels up the building. He caught a sight of Yeonjun and the man shaking hands before the doors slide into a close.

“Does it hurt?” he breaks the silence first, stealing a glance towards the other guy’s side profile.

“It hurt more when you broke my neck.”

Soobin winces at that.

“You shouldn’t have done that. It’s purely my mistake today. You did nothing wrong.”

“This, coming from the uptight officer?” Beomgyu is looking at him now, a smirk tugging on his lips. He notices that the tear has healed, leaving only a small trace of blood on the edge of his lips as the only proof that the wound ever existed.

He tears his gaze away when a pink tongue peeks out from between his lips to swipe at the blood.

“You know what I meant.”

“No matter what you said, he is going to blame me for it anyway. Don’t worry. You’ll never be wrong in his eyes.”

He doesn’t let the sympathy settle in Soobin’s chest. As they reached the destination floor, he is already hopping off the elevator, a bounce on his step despite still having his arms bound behind him.

“Where do I go? How long am I going to be kept in a holding cell? If that’s the right punishment according to your book.”

Soobin guides him through the corridor by his arm, entering one of the doors on the left.

It’s his office. Definitely not the right punishment according to their ‘book’. He lets go of the vampire as he walks further into the neatly decorated place, rummaging through the cabinets for a certain tool.

Beomgyu is still busy exploring the small office with his eyes when Soobin comes up behind him, snapping the handcuffs off his wrists with the magnetic device. They clatter to the floor, exposing the circle of reddish marks around his wrists. They don’t heal fast like any other wounds, as silver is the most lethal thing for their kind.

“Take a seat, I’ll see what I can do for this.”

When Soobin comes back from grabbing an ice pack from his fridge, his face falls into an impassive one upon finding the guy making himself comfortable sitting on top of the desk. His wounded arms folded neatly over his lap.

“What?” Beomgyu asks defensively. “You only have one chair, where are you supposed to sit if I take it?”

Sighing, the taller male finally makes his way over, dragging his chair to position it right before the smiling vampire and sitting down there. He gently puts the ice pack over the burn marks, eliciting a hiss that’s quickly swallowed back when Beomgyu bites down on his lower lip.

“How is it that every time I see you, I’m always in pain?” he mumbles, lips jutting out into a small pout.

Soobin scoffs, finding it amusing that he was thinking something very close to it earlier. “Maybe if you stop feeding so much, we will never have to meet again.”

“You know it’s out of my control, since I haven’t found my mate and all.”

“So you’re really mate-less, huh?”

“I just haven’t found them yet!”

It is a condition of pureblood vampires where they are born with a human mate. The term ‘mate’ is loose here, since there is no mutual give-and-take between the two. This concept makes it impossible for a vampire to ever be satisfied unless they feed from their mate’s blood. That’s the price that comes with being a pureblood.

Not that it’s an expensive one, as purebloods have all the resources to find their mates quickly. It is a very rare case that they stay without a mate. That’s why it is unheard of for a pureblood to go into a feeding spree or signing up for a donor from the blood centre, because all they need is the blood of their mates.

Now, Soobin is actually staring at an outlier. A very rare case of a vampire being driven into a feeding spree because he hasn’t found his mate.

“Is the hunger that bad, so that you have to drink blood every night?” he asks softly.

For some reasons he is still holding onto the latter’s hands, thumbs rubbing along his palms as a futile attempt to minimize the burn. When Soobin lifts his gaze, he caught the way Beomgyu’s eyes are filled with sadness. Something he never thought he’d see on the playful vampire.

“I don’t know how bad is bad enough for you but just, think about when you feed and feed, and you can feel your stomach full, yet there is still an itch in your throat begging for more,” he starts to explain. “No matter how much blood slides down your throat, the hunger is always clawing you from the insides, tapping into your nerves and controlling all your desires. The next thing you know, you’re already ripping into someone else’s throat like a beast.”

It sounds pretty bad, now that he explained it like that. Soobin only experienced that kind of hunger once, when he first turned and refused to feed on human blood. He can’t imagine having that kind of hunger inside him every night.

Still, he can’t excuse Beomgyu’s behaviour, especially since a number of people actually died as a consequence.

“Well, basically, you’re just hungry all the time!” he ends his monologue in a cheerful note, kicking his legs out playfully.

Soobin rolls his eyes. “You’re such a kid. How long has it been since your first time?”

“Six decades this year!”

Six decades of being constantly hungry. Soobin really should stop asking so he won’t feel guilty about giving him the right punishment if he were to catch him next time he’s in action.

“Is that why you wanted to taste everyone’s blood? Even a vampire like me?”

Beomgyu purses his lips. “That’s because I thought you were human when I first saw you.”

“Offense taken.”

“I still want a try, though. You really can’t—ah!” he is interrupted by his own yelp that’s caused by Soobin’s thumb digging into the sore area of his wrist. “Jeez, fine. I’ll shut up about that today.”

“Good. Just stick to tasting human blood. But ask permission first.”

That earns him an impish smile from the vampire. The red marks have faded into pinkish tone, and soon Soobin wouldn’t have any excuse to keep him in this office.

Not like he wanted to.

Yeonjun enters the office few moments after, a tired look on his face.

“Hi, officer! Are you bringing good news?” Beomgyu asks a little too cheerfully, apparently already back to his bubbly self after the uncharacteristic gloomy rant. “Or a bad news? Uh-oh.”

It’s a little comforting, to see that Yeonjun appears to be just as annoyed as Soobin when it comes to this one vampire. The elder is usually good at hiding it, but now he doesn’t even bother to wipe the frown off his visage.

“Yeah. We decided on a punishment after a long talk with your father, alright. Now hear me out.”

Beomgyu’s smile completely drops from his face, and it takes everything for Soobin not to break into a laugh.

_Uh-oh,_ indeed.

_==_

Flashes of camera lights are fixed routines in Beomgyu’s daily life.

It’s a way to use his face for good and live in showbiz while also avoiding the chance of blowing up and being known to the general public. Vampires are blessed with top-notch quality visuals, so why not use it to gain money? Having connections to the entertainment industry also gives Beomgyu more advantages. One of them namely the access to enter high-end nightclubs where he can find his little blood snacks.

These days, what motivates him the most about working with humans is that they have no clue about the status of his father. Right here among these people, he is not the privileged pureblood Beomgyu whose daddy cleans up after his mess.

He is just Choi Beomgyu.

Choi Beomgyu who looks great in silver contacts and beret. Choi Beomgyu whose long legs look great for these jeans they are trying to popularize.

And then there are also people who see him as the childish idiot yet lovable Choi Beomgyu instead of an incompetent mate-less pureblood.

“I’m really wondering how much time left until they stop pairing me up with you,” this is one of them, the very few humans Beomgyu actually likes. “Isn’t it getting boring after the third time?”

Hueningkai is supposed to be a year younger than him, but annoyingly taller and more talented at stealing the photographers and editors’ hearts. It’s just the fact that he is a rookie with barely a year experience under his belt that their agency put them together to get this rookie’s name out there.

“Stop complaining. You do agree that we look good together.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Some fans think we are dating, you know. They said you have this way of looking at me…” he trails off when he caught Kai’s eyes narrowed at him. This is definitely not the look he meant. “Jeez, fine. You’re just good with your expressions or whatever.”

The photographer calls them to start the second half of the photoshoot, and Beomgyu just has to get himself in the position. This time, he has to sit on the grass while wearing his beige pants and off shoulders top. His back leaned against the side of Kai’s arm, head leaned back to rest on his shoulder.

The entirety of the concept is filled with spring and dreamy vibe. That means constant sunlight shining on his face and a lot of smiles and fake laughter despite the urge to crawl under the picnic table that uselessly just acts as a prop.

“What’s the deal with the guy?” Kai asks.

It’s one of their favourite things to do after establishing their friendship. The stolen talks between smiles and changes of poses.

“What guy?”

“The purple head over there,” he nods at the direction of the shade provided for the staff, towards Soobin who is currently dozing on a chair.

Poor guy has to give up his sleeping time during the day just to be on Beomgyu’s tail. Talk about being obsessed. He doesn’t know if the term ‘punishment’ is the right one, since he doesn’t mind having someone obsessing over him. It’s a nice feeling.

Let’s just say that Soobin is the one who is getting the short end of the stick from this arrangement when Choi Yeonjun came bearing the news that night.

“So, Beomgyu here will receive a 24/7 supervisions by someone from this council officers,” he announced, making Beomgyu’s jaw drop at the weight of it.

This might be the worst case of ‘punishment’ his father ever ordered for him, even though that man had applied some fucked-up ways to discipline him in the past. Still, it was never something that involved another party.

More importantly, he was thinking about Taehyun and how this would affect their secret feeding sessions.

“It will last for a month, and during that period, you’re allowed only to feed from donors.”

“But—“

“Twice a week. No negotiation. Permission to take drastic measure if you misbehave, and I’m not talking about something so soft like neck-breaking, if you were to be stuck with me.”

His mouth fell shut instantly after receiving a glare from the blonde. He might not have crossed paths with this guy often, but he knew that there would be no way he could find a loophole if it’s with Choi Yeonjun. The legendary pureblood officer who has no mercy in killing vampires that bring taints into the name of their society.

“I have a condition,” he said after a moment of deep thoughts and biting the inside of his lip.

“Do you think you are in a place to give conditions?”

“I want this guy, and him only,” he pointed at the lilac haired vampire who had just been sitting there and watching the exchange with an amused smile on his lips. The smile gradually dropped when he realized what’s happening. “I won’t have it any other way.”

“No wait, this can’t be allowed, right?” Soobin turned his gaze to Yeonjun, asking for support.

“Think about it, this guy made two false arrests for me. It’s just your luck that I’m not filing a report. You came to me to make a deal, and now I finally have something that will benefit me from the deal,” he said, looking down onto his nails nonchalantly.

Soobin threw a look of disbelief towards him, lips parting and closing as if he was trying to find the right words to defend himself from false accusations. Only that there was nothing false from what he said. Both officers knew that he made a point.

Seeing the thoughtful look on Yeonjun’s face and despair on Soobin’s face, he knew that he’s winning. Choi Beomgyu always gets what he wants, after all.

Although calling it a 24/7 supervision might be a stretch. He made it a rule not to let Soobin into his house, so that left him at least several hours without supervision during their sleep time. And when he had to work in the morning, Soobin would make him promise to behave for several hours until he comes back.

Soobin is giving him a lax supervision, and Beomgyu has nothing to complain about it.

He’s just a little curious about the few hours Soobin spends away from his job in the morning.

“So, who’s the guy?” Kai’s voice brings his attention back from staring at the vampire. He tilts his head in a way to catch the guy’s eyes.

“Why, jealous that I might have someone else?”

Kai makes a disgusted face at that. It lasts for a split second, but enough to have it captured on camera. That earns him a scolding from the photographer. They decided to keep it professional until the end of the photoshoot, albeit with some harmless teasing and playful wrestles on the grass.

“Hyung,” Kai calls him over by the time the photographer calls it a day. A conflicted look on his face making Beomgyu feel like something is about to go wrong. “Do you, by any chance, know what’s up with Taehyun these days?”

“Of course I know, I’m his best friend.”

Kai stops, a frown instantly drawn all over his face.

“So he’s avoiding me…”

That’s when he knows that he’s fucked up. “No, wait. Now that you mentioned it, he hasn’t been around much. I’m just too busy to notice… let me give him a call later to see if he’s okay.”

“I might have said something that I shouldn’t, the last time I saw him.”

It’s rare to see Kai looks so dejected, Beomgyu wants to just stay there to listen to him and pat his hair. But the sun is setting, and a certain officer is going to find an excuse to murder him if he is not letting him go anytime soon.

“Look, huening, he cares about you a lot. If he’s not answering, there must be a reason and I’m going to find that out for you.”

The taller male nods, still with his lips turned down even as he waves goodbye to him and leaves with his manager. Beomgyu watches him until he disappears from the site before he turns around to make his way towards the vampire who’s fallen asleep completely.

Soobin makes an unskilled officer. It’s no wonder he keeps making mistakes when arresting him.

“Hey, officer. I’m going home now, do you want to keep sleeping here or what?” he calls out, nudging the plastic chair with his foot to give it a shake.

It takes a few more kicks until Soobin finally stirs from what supposed to be a ‘light’ doze. His dark eyes are staring at Beomgyu, confused at first, until they are filled with recognition by each blink of his eyes. He looks harmless in his half-asleep state. Lips pouted and eyes blinking slowly to get rid of the sleep.

He looks even more _human_.

That makes something stir in Beomgyu’s stomach again. The hunger he had for the officer the first time he laid his eyes on him that night. The clawing inside the walls of his tummy. It’s an unpleasant sensation. He should despise the guy for making him suffer like this.

But then Soobin smiles at him, and he starts to wonder how anyone could develop hatred for the guy. It’s so unfair.

“Let’s go home.”

Home, is a loose term.

Soobin sees him going into his house, alright, but he doesn’t catch him driving away from the place barely ten minutes after he left. The destination is an apartment complex he has frequently visited these days.

A certain redhead opens the door for him, regarding him with alert eyes before pulling him inside.

“Hey, sorry I just got here. I don’t want to risk having that officer tailing me here and catching us in action.”

“Vampires or not, you guys can’t break into a high security apartment,” he waves off the idea quickly, seating himself on the couch and back inside the blanket strewn on top of it. “But it’s okay. It’s not like you’re obligated to do this for me.”

“I am, kind of.”

“I hope you can just let me die from hunger.”

“You know that wouldn’t happen. There is more chance of you losing your sanity and going on a feeding spree instead.”

Taehyun bites his lip at that, though his eyes stay hard. He is always stubborn about not letting his vulnerability appears to others around him, even though Beomgyu has known him long enough to know what’s going on in his pretty little head. He just wishes that it’s not resentment for him that Beomgyu sees every time he looks into Taehyun’s eyes.

This is why he is obligated to take responsibility of turning Taehyun.

After so many times, the pain and the hunger that follow the feeding are nothing to Beomgyu. Taehyun also looks less guilty now. It gives him a fake sense of relief, telling him that maybe this will work, that everything will be alright again in no time.

That maybe his blood will be enough to shut down the predatory urge in Taehyun’s head.

“I heard that you haven’t been talking to Huening,” he says at last, once Taehyun’s eyes are back to their solemn black colour. “He looked pretty bummed about it.”

“Well, he might have to stay like that for a little longer, then.”

“There’s no reason for you to avoid him, though. You work with other people just well, and you love him, there’s no way you’d hurt him, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“You won’t know that, Gyu.”

“Have some faith in yourself…”

Instead of an answer, all he gets is yet another silent treatment. Just like any other time Taehyun is shutting him out. The guy is already wrapping the blanket around himself again and lying down on the couch, giving his back to Beomgyu.

That’s his cue to leave.

The pain from having fangs sinking into his skin is bearable, and the puncture wounds disappear a few minutes afterwards. But the pain of seeing his best friend living miserably, as well as blaming him for this creature he’s become? He is not sure if he’d ever get used to it.

Sometimes he hopes that everything is just a long, seemingly endless nightmare, and one day he will wake up to Taehyun’s smiling and being all playful with him again. Though it is unlikely to happen as he can’t even wake himself up from his own nightmare of this neverending hunger.

The nightmare continues the moment he steps out from the apartment building. He’s a little distracted by his thoughts, not realizing a very familiar male waiting for him by his car, blocking the access to his driver seat.

When he looks up, he is facing a very displeased look in Soobin’s face. One that makes his blood freeze.

“And I thought I could trust you, at least for a few hours.”

Beomgyu bites his lip, unable to summon a plausible excuse under the time pressure. Not to mention that he is shrinking under the intimidating glare. Purple light flashing across the usually gentle eyes.

Permission to take drastic measure. Oh god, he is going to break his neck again.

Or worse.

“I’m not doing anything illegal, though! Smell it, it’s not like I was feeding or anything,” he inches closer to blow a mouthful of air to Soobin’s face.

That appears to anger him even more, because Beomgyu feels his hand being grabbed, twisted up to come into view between them. And then he sees it, the splatter of blood staining the sleeve of his grey sweater.

He forgot that Taehyun is a messy eater.

“What’s this then?”

“It is none of your business,” he snatches his hand away from the grip, averting his gaze. “Still, it’s not like I fed illegally again. You can’t punish me for this!”

“What part of 24/7 supervision did you not get? I need to know whatever you are doing!”

“You didn’t seem to care much whenever you left me in the morning. What could be more important than your job, officer? I should be reporting you for slacking.”

He is just being irritating here, Beomgyu knows that. He also knows that it strikes a nerve, seeing how Soobin has no comeback to him. He is now looking at Beomgyu with his lips sealed shut. And then he’s reaching for Beomgyu’s hand again, examining the splotches of blood.

“It’s not human’s blood, isn’t it? Why can’t you tell me?” he asks, more persuasive this time.

“I will tell you only if you tell me about your daily morning activity.”

“Choi Beomgyu!”

“What?!” he shouts back. “If neither of us is doing something illegal, we don’t have to talk about it then. Let’s just stay out of each other’s lives as much as we could.”

Soobin grits his teeth, before releasing his arm harshly. “Whatever. I’m going to find out what you’ve been doing.”

“Good luck with that!” he shoves the officer away from blocking his path, gets into his car, and drives away from there without offering him a ride. He doesn’t deserve it anyway. All vampire officers are he ever encountered are always the self-righteous kind, and Soobin is no different.

==

_I’m going to find out what you’ve been doing._

Beomgyu takes that statement as a challenge. Before Soobin finds out about the existence of his newly turned friend, he has to find dirt on the officer in order to blackmail him. After all, there is no way someone can be that perfect.

Without realizing, they are engaged in this little silent game of hiding their little secret.

Soobin does not leave his side often after the sneaking out incident. Even as he is delivered safely into his home, and about to sneak out for the second time, he is only met with a familiar car parked a few meters away from his gate. Horn blaring throughout the silence of the street and making Beomgyu jump as he is just about to drive away in his own car.

“Where do you think you are going, Choi Beomgyu?” the lilac haired vampire pokes his head out from the driver seat’s window.

The vampire gapes at the sudden experience, slowly putting his gear in reverse to pull his car back into his garage. And then he is out from his gate on his feet, storming towards the car with a flush of both anger and shame in his face. His blood boils even more seeing the annoying smirk playing on Soobin’s lips.

It’s more annoying that he once found Soobin’s lips pretty.

“Why are you so obsessed with me?” he asks, even adding a low snarl as he glowers at the other male from the side of his car.

Instead of backing away like Beomgyu expected him to, Soobin rests his arm over the window frame of the car. “Shouldn’t you be happy that someone’s taking this much interest in you? Does it make your heart flutter?”

“Please,” he makes a barfing gesture. “What if I were out for a romantic rendezvous with someone? Would you still stalk me, then?”

“I don’t see anything wrong with that?”

Beomgyu flips him off before turning back to storm back into his house. Even as he peeks out from his window three years later after catching some sleep, the car is still parked out there.

It’s also not easy for him to find out what the guy is up to when he mysteriously goes missing for a few hours every morning. He didn’t catch on to it quickly, but Soobin left someone else to supervise him whenever he has to leave now, not trusting him to be on his own anymore.

The only advantage he had is this one morning as he sneakily sneaks into the backseat of Soobin’s car when he was talking to the other officer who would supervise his house for the following few hours. That stranger officer is left there with no one to really supervise since Soobin is taking him along in his car, where he is lying down motionless on the uncomfortable floor of his stinky car.

His heart beats in triumph when the car stops. Just a step away to discovering Soobin’s secret. Is it a hidden lover? A secret feeding method? An illegal job he takes while posing as a human? He would take anything as long as he could blackmail the elder with it.

The engine is off, and then there is the sound of the car door opening and closing.

Beomgyu is not stupid. He waits for a few more seconds, just enough time for Soobin to walk away from the car, but not far enough so that he can still follow him. As he finally struggles to get up from the cramped space and seat himself properly, he is met with a pair of eyes staring at him from the rearview mirror.

So this is it. How it feels when you get staked on the chest by a silver stake.

His heart almost dropped at how the surprise hits him.

“Good morning, ready for your breakfast?” the guy says. His sharp glare melting into an eyesmile. Despite the genuine smile, there is still the hint of amusement that makes Beomgyu want to launch himself off a cliff.

“What—why are you here?”

“It’s Sunday,” _oh shit, right. He doesn’t go on Sundays._ “And we have feeding appointment. Isn’t that why you’re in my car?”

That’s totally not it. Even as he stares into Soobin’s eyes, he also knows that the guy is onto him. But he will take the smallest chance of saving his face. “Of course. What do you think I’m doing here? Stalking you? Heh, that’s your job.”

Soobin’s laughter haunts him for the rest of the day.

Despite the constant idiocy he shows at the other vampire, at least he scores some wins too. Enough to heal his wounded pride from the incessant attacks from the rude lavender haired officer.

Instead of visiting Taehyun’s apartment, he arranged meetings with the friend outside of their respective houses now. This time, he finds himself invited to one of Taehyun’s shooting site for a web-drama he’s working on. It’s amazing, how his friend could work with these many people as a newborn vampire who is teetering on a thin thread between his humane and vampire instinct.

“Did you bring Huening?” Taehyun hisses at him the moment he walks into the changing room. “My manager said that there are two friends… I swear to god, Beomgyu hyung—“

He rolls his eyes. “So you haven’t called him, huh? And no. It’s my probation officer.”

“What?”

“I’m a criminal, basically.”

He’s not bothering to explain the whole thing as they are only lent a very limited time between the takes. Plus there is very observant officer who might catch on to the smell of blood if they don’t hurry. And sure, he still does, judging from his suspicious stare when Beomgyu waddles back to the officer once he’s done.

“This is something illegal, isn’t it? Did you meet up with another voluntary donor?” he asks, craning his neck to see through the sea of staff in the site.

As the redhead saunters off his dressing room, just in time for Soobin’s gaze to catch him, Beomgyu frantically cups his face with both his hands. “So what if it was? I’m not doing anything illegal, right?”

“I don’t know what it is, but there is something about you that makes me want to throw you into the jail.”

Beomgyu laughs at that. “Isn’t that romantic?”

It’s a win for him today.

The light shines upon him on a day where he has a photoshoot from midnight until the crack of dawn. This kind of photoshoot is always so draining for him and the human staff, but it’s also one that brings in the most profit, so nobody is complaining. It also creates a perfect chance for him.

“Do you think the photoshoot will go for a few more hours?”

That’s the question he has been waiting for ever since he sees the time. It’s around the same time Soobin will disappear to his secret activity every day, and the luck is on his side today, since he just has the monitoring left for this schedule.

“Yeah. They said there are like 2 more sessions left? That would take hours.”

Soobin gives him a sceptical look, but the time urgency makes him fall for the deception. “Fine. I’ll be going for 3 hours, just…”

“Hm?” he fakes a disinterested tone, pretending to pensively monitor his pictures on the screen.

“Don’t try to do anything funny.”

He waves the vampire off nonchalantly, not letting a smile break over his lips until he sees Soobin walk out from the studio.

It’s going to be fun.

At least that’s what he anticipated.

He didn’t expect to follow the cab all the way towards this battered building. He parks the car on a street across the gate, just enough for him to catch a sight of the signpost that contains the name of the place. He has to squint to read the texts written across the dirty board.

It looks like something that has been written decades ago. The whole place really needs some renovations. But the name of the place lets him know that it is an orphanage.

What would Soobin be doing at this kind of place every morning?

The curiosity is bubbling inside his chest, urging him to storm out from the car to sneak into the place and find the answer. He can’t risk getting caught nosing into Soobin’s business, though, not wanting to see the deathly glare thrown at him again. So it leaves him no choice than to sit there and glare at the building.

If only vampires have superpowers, the building would already turn into a pile of ruins from the intensity of his stare.

His _patience_ surely pays off.

After an hour of staring battle with the building, he’s getting the answer.

First, he caught the sight of Soobin’s purple hair, looking so bright under the morning sunshine that he looks like an entirely different person than the one who always snaps at him. And then he caught the tiny humans, running out of the building and attacking the poor vampire who has to act like he is a weakling.

A little girl comes for his leg, hugging the long limb and then another one is reaching her arms out for him. As Soobin lifts her up on his arms, several little boys are running towards him while shooting him with gun fingers. The guy fakes a pained gasp at that, and then swallowed by laughter when all of them collectively come to hug him. The girl in his arms is currently tugging on his purple locks, and when Soobin looks up at her, he smiles so brightly that Beomgyu almost mistaken it for the sunshine itself.

He’s never seen a vampire who could smile so brightly.

The little game against tiny humans carries out for a little longer before they disappear again into the building. By this time, Beomgyu is already fast asleep with his head against the steering wheel, unaware of his surroundings.

He’s also unaware that Soobin comes out of the building an hour later, and goes straight to his car. The sleep seems to have taken over him completely, that when he wakes up, he finds himself lying down on the backseat of the car, and Soobin is the one taking the spot behind the wheel.

“Soobin-ssi?” he calls out sleepily, earning a hum from the guy peeking at him through the rearview mirror. “Are you really a vampire? You must be lying just so I won’t go after your blood anymore.”

There’s a soft laughter coming from the driver seat, but he’s not awake much longer to hear the answer for his silly question. His eyelids are falling back shut as he is driven back to slumber with Soobin’s soft laughter as the background music.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> isn't it just ironic... that kai, the most vampire looking member, is the only human in a vampire!au fic?


	3. Chapter 3

Soobin likes to think that he has lived wisely throughout the extra few decades he earned as an immortal creature. He pays taxes, helps old people cross the street, and recycles his trash. It is safe to assume that the universe will give him something good in return.

Only after the third episode of ‘things that don’t go his way’ does he realizes he might have been too naïve.

The realization comes as he is driving through the highway. A loud pop music is blasted out from the Bluetooth speaker in his car. Each tacky beat thrums against the inside of his head and edges him closer to closer to popping a vein. The worst part of this trip comes in the form of a certain vampire occupying the passenger seat and belting out random lyrics from the songs.

“One more replay of this idol song and I’m kicking you out,” he grits out, falling on a deaf ear as the younger vampire is still too deep in his own solo concert.

It started from what intended as a short trip to the office. After letting Beomgyu slip out from his supervision once, Soobin made sure that the guy was not to be left unattended during nighttime. That includes the times he had to make a stop to see Yeonjun. Strangely enough, the vampire doesn’t seem to mind tailing behind him across the pristine floor of the mostly vacant building.

“I wonder why you’re still showing up to check for your weekly assignment when you have a permanent one already,” Yeonjun said without looking up from his phone.

“Just making sure I’m not missing anything important while I’m wasting my time for this brat.”

“Hey!”

Soobin ignored the exclaim, leaning over the desk to peek over at the list usually covered by the senior officer in their weekly meeting. Most of them were checked already, except for one that stood up the most to him.

“Why is no one doing this?” he pointed at the screen. That piqued Yeonjun’s interest for a second before he’s already looking down at the device again.

“You know why,” he said lazily. “Literally no one wants to be dispatched out of city for that kind of boring assignment aside of you. I might just have to make Jungeun go.”

Soobin frowned, unsure whether he should take offense from the statement. It’s true that most of the officers avoided getting dispatched to rural areas. Those places were always categorized as a hopeless case, not worthy of their time since the human police didn’t care about them either. There were several cases of some smaller slums eradicated completely because of feral vampires.

It’s like a bloody playground for them, and none of the higher ups in the food chain of neither society did much to prevent a possible massacre.

Just the thought of it makes his guts twist in a wave of nausea.

“I will go,” he says with a firm nod, now completely earning Yeonjun’s attention.

“No, you won’t.”

“Make Jungeun watch this brat for two days, nothing could go wrong.”

“You’ve been specially asked for this job, though.”

“I’m sure two days would be okay. I’ll get the job done as quickly as possible. Please, hyung?”

Soobin was nearly pleading at this point, and he knew he almost succeeded seeing the resolve starting to melt in Yeonjun’s eyes. That was the case, until the annoying voice chimed in from behind him.

“The brat is still here, alive and breathing,” he said, already making himself comfortable sitting on the office’s couch with his legs propped on top of a table. He wasn’t looking at the exchange, staring down at his fingernails with the most nonchalant stance. “Seems like you’re asking the wrong guy, since I’m the one specifically asking for you.”

“You…”

“He has a point,” Yeonjun said, making his jaw drop.

When he looked at Beomgyu again, the guy had the most annoying smirk drawn across his lips. “Maybe if you say ‘ _please’_.”

“You’re insane.”

“And if you let me tag along.”

“Now, you must be really insane for _that_.”

Never would he think that Choi Yeonjun would pick the vampire brat’s side over his, but that appeared to be an option that gave the most advantage to the blonde. That way, he wouldn’t worry about finding a substitute to keep an eye on Beomgyu, and he could still dispatch an officer to answer the distress call from that area.

And that was the reason why Soobin had to put up with the guy even more than usually. Tailing the guy for his modelling job was easy to do even from distance, but to be stuck in the same car for their four-hour drive? It was the real punishment. Soobin was actually the one getting punished. He just realized that now.

“Okay, that’s it!” he finally snaps when the song looped back into the intro. He spots a grin from the latter just as he spun the wheel to make the car stop at the side of the road. Then he reaches out over Beomgyu’s front to open the door, even go as far to unbuckle his seatbelt. “Get out now.”

“No can do!” the model says, pulling on the door handle to close it again. Soobin reacts faster as he leans over to hold the door from being slammed close, glaring at Beomgyu from a closer proximity the position brought them into.

He sees a flicker of hesitation in Beomgyu’s eyes, just for a split second, before they are filled by his usual playfulness again.

“I’m sick of your taste of music!”

“It’s the highway, you idiot!”

“I already warned you three loops ago!”

“You jammed to the song, though. Don’t even try to lie.”

Soobin groans exasperatedly, pushing Beomgyu on his shoulder with his other hand. “Get. Out. Now.”

Cars zoom past them quickly without any care, but some of them did honk at them for disrupting their smooth path. He doesn’t care about what humans think of them as long as he gets rid of Choi Beomgyu.

And he is mistaken if he thought that the guy would willingly do that. He puts up a fight, an effective one, by closing his teeth around Soobin’s arm and biting down.

“What the hell?” he hisses, pulling away quickly to his own seat. That gives enough time for Beomgyu to shut his door and buckle himself back in his seat. A grin smacked on his face.

“Your hand was literally right there. I can’t _not_ bite.”

With an incredulous glare thrown at the vampire, he checks his arm quickly. It hurts, alright, despite the bite not being one that draws blood. There is a crescent bite mark tattooed on his skin, still raw to the touch.

“Choi Beomgyu… _you_ …”

Another horn from behind the car snaps him back to the reality, making him turn to face the front and brings his hands to the wheel. His face is still hard with clenched jaws and irritation, but at least Beomgyu is turning off the song. It’s just that he’s constantly laughing in triumph now. And that’s even more annoying than his idol songs.

His struggles do not end when the drive ends like he expected it to.

Even after he drops the car and their belongings at the hotel and goes to the crime scene to observe the situation, the younger vampire is tailing after him. He ignored Soobin’s warning to not leave the hotel, and not even being discreet about that, seeing how Soobin can hear his footsteps behind him on that vacant street.

They arrived at the area pretty early into the night. The sun is barely setting, and there is still some trace of orange lights on the horizons.

For the humans, it’s time to shut themselves into the safety of their own homes. Soobin can see some curtains being drawn into a close and hear locks clicking into places. But those are almost futile, seeing how battered these buildings they call a house. They barely serve as a protection if a vampire were to target one of them.

“You can walk closer, you know,” he says after the sun completely disappears. The sky is completely blanketed by darkness now. He can already smell the incoming rain from how cloudy it is.

At the invitation, he hears a set of small footsteps running towards him, and then Beomgyu is walking besides him. A bounce on his steps. “You acted like you don’t want me around, but you’re missing me already.”

“Okay, nevermind. Take ten steps back.”

Beomgyu laughs, not budging from his new place next to him. “So, what’s your plan for this mission?”

“Just a patrol. If the vampire shows up, it would make things easier. If not, I’d have to ask around tomorrow to figure out a pattern of the attacks, and then create a strategy to catch the beast in action.”

“Sounds boring,” Beomgyu says. His voice dripping with disappointment.

“If my job was always full of dangerous, heart-racing missions and encountering feral newborns every night, I don’t think I’d be alive for this long.”

They grow silent afterwards. Soobin is quietly marking the map on his phone, making sure to trace their footsteps in the area where the cases are reported. It’s a small village with not many citizens. The usage of street lights is not a thing here too, so they are walking in darkness and relying on the blessing of their vampire eyesight.

After the third time of passing a same park, he can tell that Beomgyu is getting bored out of his mind. The guy is restless now, sometimes humming or muttering something to himself. He already knows it isn’t long until the guy strikes another conversation with him.

“I’ve been wondering about that place you visited that morning… An orphanage, isn’t it?”

“That time you stalked me?”

Beomgyu coughs. “Something like that. Well… I expected to find more blackmail materials, not _that_.”

“What is _that_ , exactly?”

“You know, the kids!”

So Beomgyu really went all the way to stalk him to his daily workplace and watched him. He didn’t think much about it when he spotted a familiar car across the building that morning, too engrossed with dealing with the kids, until he walked to the car only to find out the vampire sleeping peacefully, head pillowed by the wheel.

It’s something that he has been doing for too many years that he can’t imagine not having it as a part of his life. The last resort of keeping what’s left of his humanity.

“Those kids you see are the kindergarteners from the orphanage. They’re not old enough for school yet, so I just stop by every day to teach them how to read and to play with them.”

“That’s not a very vampire thing to do.”

Soobin laughs. “What is a vampire thing to do, then? Doing photoshoots under the sunshine as the new spring icon?”

“Shut up. I didn’t pick the concept.”

“It does suit you, though.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Sighing, Soobin finally gives up on the topic. It’s a little amusing for him, how they went from bickering in the car to teasing each other like this. It’s as if they are friends and not a couple of midnight creatures stuck on an unpleasant, possibly dangerous mission. It makes him feel like a human, which is something that he shouldn’t be proud about, especially considering that he can’t even remember his time as a human anymore.

“I was hoping to find some dirt on you, but you’re just so consistent, huh?”

“Hm?”

“In being perfect. Stop doing that—“

Before he can question the statement or even let it sink in, he snaps his gaze forwards at the sound of a thud coming from a few meters ahead of them. He goes alert instantly, staring ahead at the dark path before him and making a small run towards the source of the sound.

No one is supposed to be around, and the sound is not as light as little animal’s movements.

He’s proven right the moment he spots a body on the ground. As he gets on one knee to inspect the body, it’s hard for him to keep a straight face upon seeing the ghastly sight. Paper-white skin with the only colour left on the body being the tiny trace of blood from two puncture wounds on his neck. This time, it’s an unlucky teenager, and just like other corpses reported on the files, this body is completely sucked dry of blood. That explains the lack of blood stench in the air.

The vampire they are trying to catch is too clean. It can’t just be a feral newborn.

“Beom—“

“Soobin, watch out!”

==

Perhaps, Beomgyu is taking back his complaints about this trip being a boring one.

Despite being vampire who’s infamous for leaving his victims to die, he will never get used to see an actual dead body. His feet are stuck on the ground as Soobin makes a run towards the body, for once experiencing a flash of terror running down his spines despite being a predator himself.

And then he hears it. Just before he sees the flash of quick movement.

It’s going for Soobin.

His instinct takes over his body, compelling his legs to move before his brain does. The only thing he could think about is to keep the other safe, and that’s by throwing himself at the shadow.

A soft cry escapes his lips when he hits the ground. Thankfully, on the upper hand. He sees a flash of crimson in the pair of the wild eyes, clenched shut when he brings his hands down to strike the face with his claws.

Blood starts dripping from the tips of his fingers just as a shriek rips through the night. It caught him off guard, seeing the female vampire glaring at him with three deep streaks across her face. That’s enough surprise elements for her to toss him aside.

“Beomgyu, stay out of this!” he registers Soobin’s panicky voice somewhere behind him.

“No, you don’t get it!” he shouts back, getting back on his feet and shoving Soobin back towards the direction of the corpse when he saw the guy running towards him. He doesn’t get to feel guilty about watching the taller male stumble back to the ground at the force of his push. “She’s a newly turned pureblood. I just know!”

“No way—“

Before the discussion could pick up, Beomgyu sees the flash of long blonde hair again, and then a piercing pain on his shoulder. The vampire fucking bit onto his shoulder, tearing through his clothes and skin with the sharp edges of her fangs.

There’s no time to succumb into the blinding pain as he has to yet again launch another attack on the girl before she could get to Soobin. They are rolling over the ground again now. Gravels digging onto his back and scratching the slowly healing wound on his shoulder.

The feral vampire, she is laughing loudly. The only sound in the depth of the night, echoing in this dark alley.

“You are a vampire. Use your fangs, coward!” she says, lunging for his neck this time.

He punches her in the face for this, earning yet another mocking laugh. Still, there is no time to catch a breather. Their movements are too fast for humans’ eyes to follow, and if Beomgyu is losing his focus even for a split second, there’s a big chance this vampire would tear his neck open the next time she lands a bite. It’s a little alarming that she is more agile, since she’s the one who keeps pushing Beomgyu down, playing around with him like a spider who trapped a fly on her web.

Mustering up his irritation, Beomgyu finally pushes her with all his strength. It’s strong enough to make her fly off him, crashing against the brick wall across of them. He estimated a few seconds before she attacked him again, but it never comes.

When he sits down, he sees the girl’s eyes first, staring at him with utmost hatred. Then it’s faded into an incredulous one as she stares down onto the front of her black shirt. Blood is staining the fabric, but the most striking one is the silver glinting under the darkness.

It’s a handle of a silver dagger, buried deep in her chest.

“ _I don’t get it_ , really?” Soobin’s voice comes next, snapping him out his daze. That’s when he realized that the male has been next to her all along.

He reaches out to grab the handle of the dagger again, swiftly pulling it out, only to drive the sharp edge back into the soft flesh of her body. This time, it’s sinking in right where her heart is, judging from the choked noise she makes and the blood that drips out from her mouth. Her eyes are still wild, looking at Soobin with murderous intent so strong it could stab a person. And then they dim down as she slides down to the ground.

“You really thought I couldn’t handle it?” that’s the first thing comes out from Soobin’s lips the moment he makes his way to Beomgyu, who is still staying unmoved on the ground. “What do you think I am? A human?”

He sounds so irritated, that Beomgyu almost regrets trying to save him. But there’s a hint of concern on his tone, enough to make him feel like the pain was worth it.

“Shut up. We’re stronger than you, okay? You wouldn’t have survived if it weren’t for my help.”

“Who killed her, though?”

“Ugh, fuck you. I helped too!” he grunts in pain the moment he tries to move. The pain is still pulsing on where the vampire bit him earlier, his blood oozing out and wetting his shirt some more. It’s just to be expected that his wound is not healing quickly. He hasn’t been on his top condition ever since he started being a walking blood bag for his friend, after all.

Soobin ends up helping him up, though not pushing him to get up completely. He ends up slumping back down, right onto Soobin’s arm that’s supporting his back before he could painfully hit the ground again. His head lolled back in a slow circle.

“I think I’m dying,” he chokes out.

“Beomgyu—“

“I still have a lot to live for… I haven’t even found my mate… but hey, I think I’m walking towards the light now...” he keeps going weakly. His eyelids dropping while his weight is fully rested against the other male.

“Choi Beomgyu, just snap out of it.”

And then he was left behind as he dramatically fell onto the damp ground. The smell of rain hit him before the droplets started to rain upon him. As he opens his eyes, he can see Soobin’s long legs walking away to grab his dagger, and then walking the other way, ignoring his ‘helpless’ form completely.

Screw Choi Soobin and his cold vampire heart.

It hurts like bitch.

Beomgyu regrets the fact that he underestimated the officer. He could’ve just stayed quiet and watch the guy do his work instead of getting hurt trying to protect someone who doesn’t need it.

The wound on his shoulder is stitching itself up, but not quick enough. He has lost a lot of blood, not to mention that it has been a few days since the last time he fed, and he had to share it with his best friend.

“You’re so dramatic,” Soobin sighs, still rummaging through the bag he brought until he finds what he needs. It comes in the form of a blood bag thrown on top of the table, right under Beomgyu’s nose since he has his head laid down on the wood. It makes his nose twitch at the sudden stench of blood. “Drink that. It would quicken the healing.”

He shoots up with his face twisted in disgust, leaning back on his chair to get as far away from the bag. “What am I, a wild animal? It’s such an uncultured way to feed.”

“Animals don’t drink blood, Beomgyu.”

“I don’t want it!” he pushes the bag away stubbornly, turning his gaze away to not look at the officer who is sitting across of him.

“Well then, I guess you can sit there and see which one happens first—is it the wound closing or you going feral from the loss of blood,” Soobin says, drumming his fingers nonchalantly on top of the wood. “I have a spare silver dagger prepared just for you.”

Beomgyu takes a glance at the condition of his shoulder, and then dropping his head back on the table in despair. At this point, he doesn’t even trust himself not to bite down on the blood bag across his face. Or Soobin.

The latter option would end up in a more painful death. It’s a battle between keeping his pride or his life.

Some vampires do feed from these blood bags. The kind that doesn’t have the heart to put people in pain. For Beomgyu, it takes away the enjoyment from feeding, just like how you’re getting necessary nutrients injected into your blood through IV drips and not solid food.

He needs to feel the pulsing of veins under his lips, needs to hear the rush of blood. He also needs to feel the sensation of his fangs breaking into someone’s skin. Those are something innate. Something his body learned even before he started drinking blood.

Pureblood vampires like him are born mortal. He ate and functioned like normal humans, until his coming of age where the desire to consume blood would take over his hunger for food. Some vampires last longer than the others, but most of them have their first fed around their teenager to young adult lives.

The very first time he tasted blood, it’s painful.

His heart stops beating and his insides are twisted to accommodate his new urges for blood instead of mundane things. His eyes burned, as though they melt and regrow completely with silver light that traps the colour of the moon. Time was immortalized inside him from that day onwards.

Just like that, Choi Beomgyu is living as a 20 years old vampire for the rest of his life.

“You really won’t drink it?” Soobin asks again. A hint of worry in his voice now seeing that Beomgyu is still not touching the blood bag. His fingers have stopped their playful gesture, too.

That brings a smile to Beomgyu’s lips, knowing that the officer cares about him. It also gives an idea for him to push it.

“Maybe if you let me drink your blood…” he mumbles, catching Soobin’s attention at once. His eyes rounding up in a pleading way, staring up into Soobin’s gentle eyes just like that first night they met. It’s his favourite little manipulative act. Except this time, he might not be acting so much. “Come on, officer. It hurts so badly…”

He doesn’t wait for the anticipated rejection before he leans forward to have his mouth chasing after the hand laid on the table before his face. His lips are closed around Soobin’s index finger, as his front teeth nipping gently on it.

There is no harsh reaction, much to his surprise.

Soobin is staring down at him with an unreadable expression drawn on his face, but his fingers are staying still. It’s as if he is letting Beomgyu have his way this time, hypnotized by the pair of pleading eyes locked in a contact with his own.

It’s broken abruptly the moment his finger grazes against the sharp point of Beomgyu’s teeth. It’s the protruding fang that just broke out from his gums, testing the limit. And then it’s gone. The finger is pulled away from between his lips, cradled against Soobin’s chest.

He can see a drop of blood oozing out from the small tear on the finger, only to be wiped away too quickly. Any hint of broken skin disappears the next second.

So close. He was _so_ so close to tasting Soobin’s blood.

“Stop being silly and just drink it before I shove the whole thing down your throat,” he says, throwing the blood bag right onto Beomgyu’s face. It earns him a small scream from the younger vampire, both at the impact on his nose and his words.

For someone who was disgusted at the idea of consuming blood not fresh from its source, Beomgyu sure finished the blood off quickly.

When Soobin leaves for the bathroom to wash off and change, he quickly tears off through the thick plastic of the blood bag. The familiar warm thickness of the blood quickly fills his mouth, making his eyes flash with the thirst of blood. He eats messily, squeezing the content of the bag into his mouth and finishing it up in the count of seconds.

By the time Soobin walks out of the bathroom, the empty bag is already discarded and Beomgyu’s wound has completely healed. It leaves behind only a tattered part of fabric over his clean, exposed shoulder.

“Don’t say a word,” he warns as soon as he sees the quirk of Soobin’s lips into a smile.

The elder makes a movement of zipping across his lips.

That would be the perfect end to this horrendous mission. Beomgyu is thinking of washing up the remnants of blood and dirt on his skin, ready to tuck himself into bed anytime soon after the long day they had.

==

The plans are going down the drains at the arrival of a call.

It should be one that excites him. But seeing his best friend’s name flashing across the screen, Beomgyu can only feel dread blooming in his chest.

“Taehyun?” he answers, gripping the device tightly in his hand to not let the tremor control the muscles of his hand. “Is everything alright?”

No matter how much he’s hoping, there is only despair. It’s almost tangible, travelling miles away through the line of their call. It comes in the form of Taehyun’s ragged breathing that’s punctuated by a sob.

“Hyunnie? Hey, what’s the matter?”

The raise of his volume appears to alarm the other male in the room. He can see Soobin getting up from his bed, slowly making his way towards him. But his mind is not in this room anymore.

His biggest fear is materializing. First, it tumbles down as the stuttered words coming out from Taehyun’s mouth. And then it becomes a grotesque scene taking place in Beomgyu’s head, one that mirrors the situation happening on the other side of the call.

When the call is hung up, his hand drops listlessly to his lap. For a moment, he can’t hear anything that Soobin is saying despite seeing his lips move. Everything is a buzz, not penetrating through the numbness blocking his ears. Then as he focuses on the way Soobin’s concerned face, things start making sense again.

There is no time to spare.

“…happening? Hey, Beomgyu!”

Instead of answering, he is tugging onto the sleeve of the sweater Soobin is wearing as his sleepwear. His fingers are clutching onto the fabric desperately as he looks up at the male, horror filling his eyes.

“Soobin… what should I do?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last chapter that focuses on soogyu... but hey another death! don't we like to see it  
> what do you think happening in the end?


	4. Chapter 4

Taehyun’s life was perfect.

Being a child prodigy in the entertainment industry, his life was already set for a flowery path. Advertising deals, idol company scouts, invitations for casting; he had experienced countless of them throughout his teenage years when his only worry was to pass class and graduate.

When he actually dived into the career, he blew up as a supporting actor in a drama show, straight to being casted in silver screen.

Everything was perfect. He had a decent career for a rookie actor and he had a couple of best friends he could lean on. He had a childhood friend whom he promised to walk down the aisle with once they were old enough.

All these beautiful memories and achievement of his life flashed through his eyes as he was suspended upside down in that wrecked car. Every time he inhaled, his lungs constricted with piercing pain. The air was too polluted by the stench of smoke and gasoline. If he wasn’t on the verge of death already, he would die the moment this car exploded.

It’s ironic. No matter how many times you told yourself that you wanted to die, it’s hard to face the real thing when it’s presented right before your eyes.

He could see the busted door of the driver seat; tears prickling on his eyes as he wondered the fate of Beomgyu who was driving by his side. As he glanced at the rearview mirror, he saw Hyejoo crushed under the impact of the crash. She was still laughing just a moment ago. He thought about Hueningkai, how the boy would be so sad since they weren’t coming in time for his birthday party.

He thought and thought, until he couldn’t think anymore.

Death was walking towards him slowly, agonizingly. Death was a pair of tattered black leather jeans he saw through the cracked front window of the car. Death ripped the passenger seat door off its hinge. Death dragged him out of the wreckage, ignoring his pained scream and weak struggles.

Death came to him as a sharp pain sinking into his neck.

He didn’t know that Death could cry, but that’s what He did, sobbing into his chest as he was engulfed in fire.

He opens his eyes in the darkness of his living room. The only lighting comes from the flash of TV. The wide screen is showing some kind of idol music videos, their mouths moving without any sounds since Taehyun always have them muted. After all, his thoughts are already loud enough to accompany him in his lonesomeness.

It’s just that being there, inside the living room of the luxury apartment he bought with his own money, makes him feel close to the life he had before he ‘died’. If only he had actually died during the car crash, maybe he wouldn’t be as miserable; haunted by nightmares during shallow slumbers and the neverending hunger in his guts.

Moreover, he is starting to see his career crumbling before his eyes. How is he supposed to be professional in his job when he keeps having the urge to jump at his co-actors and staff? The first few weeks was bearable, and then he can barely leave the confinement of his apartment room unless Beomgyu ‘sustains’ him with his blood.

The tabloids and newspapers always report him as a survivor of the car crash. Little did they know, Kang Taehyun died back then.

Death came to him as Choi Beomgyu.

There wasn’t a single scratch on his body even after their car rolled down the cliff, and then he realized that the pain all over his body gradually subsided, replaced by hunger. Hunger for blood.

Choi Beomgyu is a vampire, and he turned Taehyun into one with an excuse to save his life.

It’s an understatement to say that he loathed his best friend for keeping him alive. But how could he hang onto that hatred when Beomgyu cried the most for him?

A midnight beast begged his best friend to stay alive. What a pathetic sight.

Now that he was alone with his thoughts, he realized that he was the one being pathetic. As his best friend struggles day by day to keep himself safe by feeding him, he was the one who refused to complete the transformation; hanging onto the last thread of connection he had to his human senses by refusing to drink human blood.

The weight of it just hasn’t dawned on him. Not until another nightmare unfolds.

It starts with a knock of his door. Who he expected to be his manager, turned out to be none other than Hueningkai, standing at his doorway with a plastic bag of food on a hand. A smile is plastered across his lips. Clueless, innocent, full of trust.

This is probably how he looked to Beomgyu for the past two years of them knowing each other.

“How did you find my new place?” he asks accusingly, standing there unmoved to block his friend’s way into his dark apartment.

“Your manager. She also gave me a key to go up!” Kai says, quickly adding the moment Taehyun’s face turns down in a sour manner. “We’re all worried about you, Tae. You haven’t been the same since…”

There it is again. Everyone always skitters around the topic like they are dealing with something that could be set ablaze from the slightest shake.

“Your point is?”

The tone of his voice makes Kai flinch. “I’m just… I’m thinking that it’s survivor’s guilt? So I’m just going to be here for you, hopefully it will help you to see that it’s—“

The train of words are halted when Taehyun swings the door close on his face, only for it to be blocked by a foot that’s stuck between the door and its frame. He hears a hiss from the other side of the door when he puts more force onto the shove. Sometimes, Kai’s obstinacy could be a double edged sword.

“Can I come in, please? I brought food…” Taehyun stays silent. Then he hears a thud on top of the wood of the door, probably coming from the guy leaning his forehead against it. “I just miss you a lot, Hyunnie. I know you probably hate me for what I said before that day, but—“

Before he can say anymore, Taehyun finally swings the door open, stepping back before Kai can bump into him on his way to stumble into the place. Still, a grin is permanently drawn on his face, and he just remembers how much he has missed the source of sunshine in his life.

Everything is more colourful the moment Kai steps into the room, starting from the light being turned on, and then the unmuting of the TV that caused the living room to lose its eerie silence. Aside of that, there is a very happy boy sitting on the carpet of Taehyun’s living room, shoving some dimsum into his cheeks once in a while.

“Why aren’t you eating? I got these for you!” Kai says with his cheek full of mandu.

Taehyun scoffs. “I’m not hungry. Besides, it looks like you can finish them off just well on your own.”

It earns him a bright grin from the kid.

Ever since he turned, eating is not something life-sustaining for him anymore. Beomgyu explains that they can still eat for the taste, but their urge for gourmets is depleted as their hunger for blood grows. So, Taehyun is just sitting there on the couch, hugging his knees while watching his best friend eats happily.

It goes for a while, until Kai decided that it’s not fun eating alone. Taehyun barely sees him move, feeling the dip of the couch next to him first before he realized that the guy has gone missing from the carpet.

“I meant it, you know. The thing I said that day before the accident.”

“Huening—“

“I’m in love with you.“

“Huening, please…”

“I know that I didn’t stand a chance against her, but I want you to know that I’m still waiting. I’ll always be waiting.”

He exhales a shaky breath, drawing his legs closer to his chest and pressing his face on top of his knees. The discourse pulls him back in a harsh current, back into the phonecall he had with Hueningkai the day before the accident. It gives him a fake sense of normalcy, as if he’s just a human with the most mundane problem.

Love and best friend problems; what’s so hard about them compared to blood thirst and near-death experience?

“Everything will be okay,” comes Kai’s soothing voice, alongside a pair of arms gathering him into a warm hug.

“I’m just so tired,” he says softly.

“I know, I miss her too.”

Nobody else dares to mention Hyejoo around him ever since the funeral, knowing how hard it hit him. Taehyun, Hyejoo, and Kai grew up together, have been best friends since before they learned how to write their own names. It’s a devastating loss for the two of them, and Taehyun wasn’t there for Kai.

The guy is now comforting him. Taehyun is truly a pathetic excuse of a friend.

“Just name it. I’ll do anything to make sure that things will be back to a new normal. Whatever you want, I’m going to make it happen.”

Taehyun is pulled out of his curled up position as Kai falls down onto the couch, holding the smaller man against his chest. He groans, though barely fighting against the hold. No matter how much he refused, he actually enjoys it when Kai would shamelessly pull him in a cuddle session, liking the warmth and comfort radiating from his friend.

This time, the warmth comes with a loud heartbeat against his ear. He can clearly hear it, along with the rush of blood pumped into arteries. He can’t help but to follow the sound of the pulse, tilting his head up just to be faced with Kai’s neck. It’s so _so_ close, he can almost feel the pulse of blood against his lips.

Just an inch closer. He just has to press his lips there.

He can mildly feel the comforting strokes of Kai’s fingers in his hair, and then a low hum reverberating from his throat. The throat that is just an inch away from his lips.

Before he knows it, he is already tracing his lips along the poor guy’s pulse point, registering the way Kai’s relaxed hum turns into a confused one. Exhaling a shaky breath, he lets his question tumble off his lips.

“Did you say whatever I want?” God. He can’t even recognize his own voice.

“Yeah, Tae. Anything you want.”

Is it his fault, that he is lulled by the promise? That he ends up giving in to the temptation for the first time ever.

All those painful struggles of denying the demon he has become, it’s coming to an end the moment he feels the piercing on his gums. He can never get used to it, having his canines extended into a pair of beastly fangs.

The other thing he will never get used to is the moment they break into someone’s skin—his best friend’s skin. He mildly registers a yelp of pain from the male beneath him, but the carnal side of his head has taken over, making him push the guy down so he can messily feed from the wounds he created.

It’s euphoric, when he feels the warm blood trickles down his throat.

Beomgyu is not lying when he said that it is different from drinking a vampire’s cold blood. It doesn’t sustain him as much as this one. For the first time in what feels like forever, Taehyun feels _alive_. Like he is not just filling the void of the shell called his body.

He could probably go on forever, if only it’s not for the soft whimper that breaches the ringing in his ear. It makes him snap back into his senses, detaching his mouth from Kai’s neck and throwing his head back with a gasp.

The cloud hasn’t left his brain, that he is slowly processing what is happening. Way too slowly.

The trickle of blood down his chin, the trembling of his hands caused by the sensation of feeding for the first time. The nearly unconscious body under him.

The last one makes him scramble back quickly, throwing himself off the couch onto the floor. Kai’s eyes are closed, but his face is contorted in utmost displeasure. His lips are a shade paler, along with the rest of his skin. Taehyun can only hear the faint movement of the younger’s heartbeat and blood rush. Why is he even hearing these things?

It must be yet another nightmare. That’s the only explanation.

He can feel tears start welling up in his eyes. The slide of the droplet down his cheek is too real for it to be a dream, just like the heat from his phone when he scrambles for it.

His wallpaper is too vivid for his eyes right now, glaring at him as he scrolls down for Beomgyu’s number.

It’s a nightmare, and he needs Beomgyu to relieve him from it.

==

His relief comes in the form of a very pissed-off blonde storming into his apartment. The door comes off its hinge after the impact coming from outside, but Taehyun is still sitting down on the floor with blank eyes staring at some idols laughing on his TV screen.

He only reacts when some people come into the room and try to take Kai away, jumping up and snarling at them. The animalistic side of him he didn’t know existed.

The thoughts from both sides of him clash in a cacophony of sounds blaring in his head. The sane mind of him knows that they are trying to save Kai, but this new, beastly side, only knows that he doesn’t want Hueningkai to be taken away from him.

He is about to launch himself at the strangers when the blonde comes in between them, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and throwing him across the room like he weighs as much as a ragdoll. He crashes onto his TV, which is now broken into two under the impact.

That’s the least of his problem, because as soon as he slides down onto the floor, the blonde is pushing him down. He grabs Taehyun by his hair, using it as a leverage to shove his face down to the point his cheek is squeezed against the cold floor.

He screams, thrashing around under the weight.

The blonde is so strong despite his lithe body. It’s clad in a black fashion blazer, with a belt fastened around his waist. He looks more like he is going to a party instead of breaking into someone’s home.

“Get away from me!” he yells, only to have his head smashed against the floor again.

“You’re lucky that the boy is still alive, or else it’d be a little bloodier around here,” he says, too casually for it to be in the context of murder. “I might have to do it anyway, if you don’t behave yourself.”

Taehyun just stays still for a moment, panting harshly against the floor, before he musters up all his energy to twist under the weight. He manages to do it for a split second, but that’s enough.

It caught the blonde off guard, just enough time for Taehyun to gnash his teeth at what he could reach. His little attack is blocked by a forearm stuffed between his teeth. The sharp points of his canines have grown again to break into the skin, and a small sense of triumph explodes in his chest from the way the other flinches.

He sees a flash of gold burning across the blonde’s eyes, much to his alarm. Before he can do anything about it, however, his head is slammed against the floor again, followed by a horrendous cracking sound echoing through the room.

Kang Taehyun dies for the second time that night.

==

During the four hours of their drive back to the city, the car is filled by Beomgyu’s anxiety instead of his idol songs. Soobin can hear the loud thoughts echoing out from his pretty little head, though the reality is that the silence hangs between them heavily. Dark with a foreboding sense.

“The newborn who attacked my friend, it was me who turned him,” Beomgyu said out of the blue, providing the explanation of all the questions stirring inside Soobin’s head.

The vampire looked too shaken back in the hotel that Soobin didn’t have the heart to bombard him with questions. As soon as he mentioned an attack, he made a call to Yeonjun, pulling him out of whatever work he had for the night. But Beomgyu stayed mute, even as he received the update that they caught the vampire and transferred the victim to hospital. He only exhaled a breath of relief before politely asked Soobin if they could head back tonight.

Still, the new information doesn’t sit with him well. A newborn produced by a careless pureblood never ends in a happy note, especially when they are not reported to the council. These occasions always end in a pool of innocent blood.

“And you didn’t report it to the council?”

He could see Beomgyu bit down hard on his lip at the question, catching the whiff of blood smell for a split second.

“It’s not that I didn’t want to deal with the consequence, but Taehyun didn’t want to _actually_ turn into one of us, so he refused to drink blood.”

Now, that sounded eerily familiar. The pictures brought into Soobin’s head at the newfound information were ones of himself from decades ago. It shouldn’t be affecting him much anymore, but it did, making him clench his jaws at the flashes of unpleasant memories. All the pain and disgust, he remembered it as if it was just yesterday.

As a council officer, his experiences with newborns were painted in a bad light, usually filled with blood-curling screams and a loss of innocent lives. As much as Soobin wanted to sympathize with this newborn friend of Beomgyu’s, it’s a little hard when the first impression he had about this Taehyun guy was connected with a near-murder case.

The thought makes him scoff, earning a sharp glare from the younger.

“Sounds like he took a lot for someone who didn’t want to feed.”

“You know how newborns are. Stop being so judgemental,” Beomgyu spits, glaring at him.

“Most of newborns who I met were feral ones, and they went on killing sprees.”

“Not Taehyun—“

“A terror for both worlds, that’s what they are when left unsupervised. You should know better than leaving him walk around freely, Beomgyu.”

He can hear the grit of teeth first as Beomgyu clenches his jaw, before he finally explodes. His voice shaky.

“He resisted it for a long time. _Months_! All he had to sustain himself with was my blood.”

“Your blood.”

“So what? You’re going to lecture me about that too?” he says, sounding completely pissed off now that it was almost intimidating. “Step all over my pride for letting a newborn fed on me?”

Everything made sense now. Soobin had never seen a vampire who needed to feed as much as Beomgyu. Especially not a mateless who hasn’t lost his mind. And then there was that trace of blood he spotted on Beomgyu’s shirt that night. Not to mention how the vampire only looked significantly bright right after he fed, and then grew pale and sickly again the next day they met.

He did a lot for his best friend, and Soobin delivered the guy right into Yeonjun’s merciless hands.

Hearing the pain from Beomgyu’s shaky breaths makes his chest constrict with a newfound kind of pain. It might be true that he dislikes the guy, but he also finds out today that he doesn’t like seeing him in pain. Especially not like this.

“I’m sorry.”

“Just shut up,” Beomgyu throws his gaze out of the window, refusing to look at him any longer.

The car is filled with silence for a while, and Soobin strangely misses their first drive where it was filled with Beomgyu’s tinkling laughter and ugly singing, no matter how much he claimed it to be annoying.

He lets Beomgyu have a moment to himself for the rest of the drive, only reaching out to take his hand when he started biting on his nails. Soobin does not try to excuse his action, silently holding the cold hand over the consoles.

It’s a long drive marked by anxiety and a sorry attempt of comfort.

Only once they reach the city that Beomgyu spoke out again. They just arrived at the council headquarter. The vampire is looking straight at the cars blocking their entrance to the lobby, not prying his gaze from them as he speaks.

“Say, I might actually get disowned this time and thrown to the street. Since I’m mateless and probably won’t have access to donor, I might go feral on the dark alleys.”

“That’s dumb—“

“Will you find me, then?” he shifted himself on the chair, looking straight into Soobin’s eyes now. “Will you find me again and kill me, if that happens?”

Soobin wishes that he couldn’t see the latter so clearly. Because as he sits there, staring into Beomgyu’s sad, yet determined eyes, he feels ashamed for himself that he wants to do everything but what’s requested of him. Funny how it has changed since the first time they met, when he thought the vampire deserved to die.

“Beomgyu…”

“It only has a small chance of happening, but promise me anyway. I don’t think anyone else can find me like you do.”

The men already spotted his car then, approaching them with intimidation tailing behind their fancy suits. They had no time for this, and he could see that in the despair that started to fill Beomgyu’s eyes. His hand blindly searching for Soobin’s, engulfed by the warmth of his hand right as the suited man stopped before the door of the passenger seat.

“Okay, I promise to find you no matter what.”

Beomgyu’s sad smile is the last thing he sees, imprinted in the back of his eyes for the following days as the guy disappears from the face of earth later on.

==

Coming back from death is painful, but the second time is better. Not like Taehyun wants to get accustomed to the feeling.

He still remembers waking up in Beomgyu’s bedroom that day, all his senses set ablaze in liquidated fire. It was the kind of pain that made you want to claw into your own skin, or beg for Death to come pick you up instead of making you suffer. Only that Beomgyu did not let him have that second option.

So much for being a best friend.

The whole thing was almost like a fever dream if it was not for the stuttered explanations Beomgyu spilled to him the next morning. It would be a funny story, Taehyun even laughed a little, only to realize that the guy was being truthful about one thing: his wounds had all self-healed in an inhumane speed.

“Vampires, really? If you want to make something up, you might want to pick something less popular in today’s pop-culture,” he scoffed. The dread in his chest compelled him to deny everything. It’s easier that way.

“You really don’t trust me? Just check your teeth, then! Or like, everything else!”

After Beomgyu stomped out of the room, Taehyun did check himself on the mirror. As if the fangs protruding off his gums hadn’t given it away already, he was startled out of his skin by the crimson flash of his eyes staring at his own reflection.

This time, Taehyun wakes up to his bones cracking back into places.

He shoots up into a sitting position, eyes wide open as he recalls what happened back in his home. There’s the thing with Hueningkai which still tugs at his chest, and then the one-sided wrestling with the blonde guy who broke down his door.

The said blonde from his nightmare waltzes into the room not long after. His face is still full of dislike even as he stands by the bed, staring down at Taehyun as if he’s trying to decide his value.

“My name is Yeonjun,” he says. About time Taehyun stops referring to him as the blonde guy. His hair looks more yellow than an actual blond.

“And I have to know that, because?”

A flash of irritation crosses Yeonjun’s eyes for a split second, almost filling him with an icy cold dread if it’s not for his own obstinacy forcing himself not to back down against the vampire.

“Listen. You’re in no place to act like a brat after all the problems you caused,” he stays sternly. The last hint of boyish look diminishes from his visage, and for a moment, Taehyun can feel the intimidation so tangible in the air he can taste it when he breathes in. “One of your friend barely survived, while the other is in jail.”

“Beomgyu hyung?”

“Yeah. Funny how we almost arrested him for petty crimes, but he ended up doing something more punishable,” Yeonjun says, a smirk forming on his lips in the end. Sickening. “He wouldn’t have been caught if it weren’t for you. Maybe I should thank you for this case. It’s been a little boring around the office these days.”

Taehyun tries, tries so hard not to let the anger get the better of him. Still, his expression is easier to read now, especially with the familiar burning in his eyes as he glares at the blonde, knowing that his eyes must be flashing in their abnormal colour again. Yeonjun only looks more entertained.

“What are you even doing here? I want to see Beomgyu hyung, not you,” he ends up saying, gritting his teeth for the last time before willing all his anger to go down a notch.

“Do you think you have the rights to demand for something? You’re on a life-or-death kind of probation.”

“What?”

“Basically, we’re keeping you for the time being to see if you’re going to succumb into your natural form of a feral vampire. You can only leave this place if you get a signed agreement from _me_.”

Taehyun stares at him impassively, swallowing the urge to attack the man because there is no way he is going to let this kind of person decide his fate.

“What happens if I fail?” he asks instead.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Yeonjun takes his time to hum thoughtfully, dragging the suspense. He even has the audacity to reach out and hold his chin, tipping his head up to make their gazes lock in a competitive battle of eye contact. “You die.”

==

Beomgyu is home, the place he dreads the most when it comes to facing his father’s wrath.

It would be good if he could follow Soobin back to his office. That way, he can explain everything to Yeonjun, appeal to him that Taehyun is not as dangerous as he seems to be.

He didn’t even get the chance to confirm that Taehyun and Hueningkai are still alive, because he is quickly ushered to his old man’s office at the mansion they live in. What if he had put Taehyun in danger by shoving him deeper into his world? What if Kai didn’t survive?

It’s a little ironic, because he should be worrying about himself first.

He realizes that the moment he walks into the room under this man’s intense glare. Just one wrong statement, and he might lose his right to live as one of his offpsrings.

That’s what happens when you have lived for so long. Children only meant as a mere tool for you to accomplish your mission. A chess piece. Or a decoration for a family act. Choi Myungjoo only engages in his little family game whenever he feels like it, or when one of the kids fuck up.

It’s Beomgyu’s turn again today.

“How long are you going to keep up this troublemaker act, Choi Beomgyu? You think you’re immune from the law I made just because you’re my son?”

This again. Beomgyu is happy to hear more harsh words from the man if it means that he is let go after this. If Soobin is still available, the guy might want to help him with the access to get to Taehyun, too. All he has to do is to keep his head down respectfully and receive any possible strikes from the man.

“I’m sorry.”

“You have no excuse for keeping a newborn pet? Do you think you’ve already lived long enough to deserve one of your own?”

He keeps his head down. “I’m sorry. It was an accident.”

“So much of an accident, to bite and feed your blood to someone else.”

The snarky statement comes from another person in the room. Is it one of his brother? He can’t even lift his head out of fear. All he wants to do is to get out of the scrutinizing stare of the people in this room.

Much to his surprise, the scolding is discontinued. Instead, he finds himself getting dragged out of the office not long after. His father ignores his shouts and calls to give him the chance to explain. He knows the pattern, knows that this is worse than any scolding or toxic words that the old man might spit at him.

It’s confirmed just as he is thrown into a small room. It’s very familiar. The square shape of the room, with barely any access to pace around. The silver spikes on the door that are glaring at him, preventing him to break it open. The darkness that closes around him the moment he is locked inside.

It’s a solitary cell. The worst punishment his father ever came up with. This is his sick way of torturing his children without spilling blood on his own hands.

As Beomgyu screams, his voice echoes back right into his ears.

He’s left alone again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoy writing Taehyun's story, this is why he's the one with the double ship tags.... haha.


	5. Chapter 5

Taehyun sits in the middle of the vast room. The entirety of the space is decorated in white, including the shirt he was told to put on. Even the uniforms worn by the officers in the building are all white.

It makes a stark contrast with the blazing red colour of Taehyun’s hair, and he can already see just how much of a mess would be created if blood is involved.

Just like the last few daily sessions, Choi Yeonjun walks into the room holding a cooler bag slung over his shoulder. And just like always, he always reminds Taehyun of how much time he’d waste because of the newborn vampire.

It’s not like he asked for it.

He thought the test would be easier as the day goes by, but it just gets harder because he is getting hungry again. The clawing inside his guts is coming back as he lies down on the uncomfortable bed in his solitary cell. He is constantly reminded of the taste of Kai’s blood on his tongue, and every time he thinks about it, the sharp extension of his canines would break out of his gums. Ready to feed.

He feels sick of himself, especially for thinking about Kai as a mere blood bag. He hasn’t even been allowed to see the guy yet.

“Okay, you know the drill. Stop wasting my time.”

Yeonjun is the only vampire he sees wearing an all-black outfit when he is at work, so he assumes that the guy must have an important position in this place to act on his own free will. He doesn’t doubt it either, seeing how easy the vampire pushes him down every time he lost control. He is a powerful one.

The test goes like this. Yeonjun will just sit there across of him with a blood bag in his hand, before he starts to crush the bag with his fingers. It would explode in his hand, splattering blood everywhere, even on Taehyun’s cheek. The stench of blood would fill the room, hitting him right in the face and taking over his mind until all he can think of is a discord of _bloodbloodbloodmustfeedmustfeed._

But he is not supposed to move an inch from his position. Not supposed to react or lunge at the blood dripping down the gaps of Yeonjun’s fingers.

On the first meeting, his eyes flashed red and he shook in his position. It lasts twenty seconds, because he lost it the moment Yeonjun brought his fingers up to his lips and lick a strip across his own bloodstained hand.

He threw himself at the blonde, catching the sight of Yeonjun’s smirk just before he was grabbed by his face, and slammed down into the floor. His face stained with blood, but he couldn’t taste the sweet liquid.

“As expected from a feral newborn. Time to sleep, _baby_.”

He was killed again right there.

On the third meeting, he managed to stay seated down for five minutes, nails digging onto the fabric of his white pants. He tried to breathe slowly, but each intake of breath was agonizing since he could smell the blood. Could taste it on his tongue.

“You sure you don’t want a taste, Taehyunnie? It’s still warm.”

Yeonjun, that asshole, was getting bolder with the nickname by then, acting like they were close friends while he was just waiting for a chance to kill Taehyun for real with his silver knife.

He couldn’t help but to crawl at the elder in the end, eyes pleading, just as the tone of his voice as he implored Yeonjun to let him taste it. “Please… I will do anything you say, just please get me out of here or… give me some. Please please please…”

Begging was out of line, so Taehyun should’ve seen it happen when Yeonjun stabbed him with a tranquilizer. At least he didn’t resort to violence this time.

On the fifth meeting, his stomach was already churning from the urge to feed by the time he stepped into the room. He liked to think that he was doing better, and it was proven by how he could sit straight for ten minutes, watching as Yeonjun played with the blood. What a waste. He could’ve just fed Taehyun instead of wasting the blood every time they were doing this session.

“Do you think the people who clean up the room will have a difficult time cleaning this up?” he asked to distract himself, eyes scanning the drop of crimson blood splattered across the floor and wall.

“No idea. But it must be easy to clean up. Or else they wouldn’t take a risk and paint everything white like this.”

“Who are _they_?”

“The vampire council aka the one who called the shots,” Yeonjun said, eyes piercing into his own. “The one who decided on your punishment and test.”

Taehyun’s jaws hardened hearing that, so he had to clarify quickly before the latter had any wrong idea.

“This is not because I want to feed.”

“Okay, keep going then.”

At that point, Yeonjun threw the half empty bag right at his face, and Taehyun was put down before he could catch it between his teeth.

That was a dirty trick.

On the seventh meeting, Taehyun was already sitting in the middle of the room in his meditation stance. His eyes closed and his posture relaxed until he heard the steps of Yeonjun’s heavy boots walking into the room.

This time, Yeonjun just straight up tossed the blood bag at him. It exploded on his face. Stench of blood hit him so hard he almost passed out from the intensity of his hunger. And the splotches of blood bloomed on his pristine white shirt. Another white uniform ruined just for this training.

“What? Are you getting mad?” Yeonjun asked when Taehyun threw a glare at him. His fringe was wet from the thick substance clinging onto it, dripping down red drops onto his cheek.

“Is it acceptable to attack you now since you’re not holding the blood?” he asked back, voice eerily calm.

It wasn’t like he was not affected by the blood stench anymore. His guts were still twisting, urging him to go ahead and lick some of the substance into his mouth since it was already _there_ anyway. But he focused all his anger on Choi Yeonjun, and it helped.

After ten minutes of the torment, Yeonjun finally broke the tacit fight with a loud clap. It made Taehyun flinch, but he still stayed on the spot, eyes filled with distrust as he stared at the vampire. He inched away only as Yeonjun’s hand came down to brush his blood-stained hair out of his face.

“Congrats for passing the white room test. Let’s meet next week to talk about the next phase.”

He quickly scrambled onto his feet when he saw Yeonjun was about to leave. “Wait, there’s still more? Why are we not doing it right now? I don’t have all the time in the world to keep playing your game!”

“You think this is a game? Would it be a game the next time I’m called to a crime scene because of a feral newborn attacking random human? Is it fun for you?”

Taehyun shut up at once, biting his lip as he was reminded of what he did to his best friend again. What if Kai thought that he didn’t feel any ounce of guilt towards him? It’d kill Taehyun, to have the younger think of him that way.

The only way he could be freed from this place was to cooperate with Yeonjun’s way, no matter how much he hated the guy.

“Thought so,” Yeonjun scoffed at the silence. “Weekends are my day off, so I’ll make time for you only next week. See ya!”

Taehyun was never aware that he could hate someone quite this much.

==

It hasn’t been the same ever since the last trip to check on the vampire that finished off these bloodless bodies.

After the whole mess happening that night, Soobin was launched back into his daily routines of being a boring council officer. Desk files and patrol at nights, followed by the laughter of his kindergarteners when the dawn broke. He settled right back into normalcy, yet it doesn’t feel so normal.

Not without the sound of camera shutters that he had gotten accustomed to in the few weeks of tailing Beomgyu, or the non-stop chatters and bickering sessions the two would have. Beomgyu disappeared from the face of earth ever since that night, from the fashion magazines or advertisement boards.

It’s almost like he never existed in Soobin’s life, or in this lifetime, and he doesn’t like it.

The only closest connection he has with the guy is a certain red haired newborn he sometimes spots around the building, particularly around the holding cells area or Yeonjun’s training floor. It’s hard to miss someone with that kind of hair and face. But then again, he works with vampire for most of his life, so he should’ve been accustomed to seeing beautiful people.

“You’re soft on him,” he comments one time after he watched what the two were doing inside an enclosed white room. It was always fun, watching Yeonjun taunt a newborn until they lose their mind; that’s what he’s the best at. Sometimes they turned out to be a lost cause and Yeonjun would make Soobin watch as he ‘eliminated’ the feral, claiming that he’d need it in case he needed a successor.

Soobin rejected it point blank.

“What do you mean soft? I’m doing well as always,” the blonde smiles smugly, leaning against the wall next to the door he just walked out from as Taehyun is being ushered out from the training room with blood dripping from his hair and shirt.

The stench makes Soobin scrunch up his nose. “Remember when you got assigned to _me_? I wanted to die.”

Even though he’s the one who brought it up, he regrets it instantly as a flash of memories starts filling his head. They feel so real to the touch, as if they happened just yesterday. The cage he was kept in, the silver chains around his wrists, the burning in his eyes as they shone in their red glory. And then there was Choi Yeonjun, sneering at him.

“ _Your blood is still mainly human, so if you don’t want to eat, you will be eaten. That’s how the world works, bunny_ ,” the vampire had said then, extending his hand inside the cage, only to withdraw it again when Soobin gnashed his teeth at him. “ _Now that’s more like it. Drink the fucking blood before I tear your throat_.”

A shudder runs through his body at the remembrance of that particular moment. It’s no wonder that his impression of Choi Yeonjun has been a bad one for the first few years of his new life as a vampire. It’s not until a few decades after working as a council officer that he warmed up to the elder. Yeonjun might be the mean vampire, but he knows what he was doing.

“You’re still pretty soft on him.”

Yeonjun ignores him, walking the other way. “Whatever. I hope you have a fancy suit.”

That’s so random.

“For what?”

A pointed look is shot at him, and he quickly turns around to walk another way, anywhere but having to listen to the blonde’s potential nagging session. Despite claiming to be a rule breaker, Choi Yeonjun is nothing but loyal to this organization, and he wouldn’t let Soobin forget an important date for a special annual vampire cult meeting.

It’s an anniversary party of the vampire councils. With Choi Myungjoo being the host, he should’ve known that there might be chance of his son showing up. The other children—Beomgyu’s half siblings are all there, with their proud smile and snobbish gesture. For some reasons, Soobin is only looking for a certain someone with silver doe eyes.

Ever since he enters the wide ballroom, his eyes flit around the nameless faces in the room, halting his search just to talk to some people who know him. Even as he’s unmistakably doing that, he still mentally denies the sole purpose of him staying for so long in this pretentious event. Usually he will stay for twenty minutes tops, after making sure some people will remember his attendance.

This time, he stays longer despite his feet urging him to storm away. It still makes him feel uncomfortable to be around so many vampires, despite being one for decades already.

That’s why he is not missing the chance the moment he caught a familiar voice through the chatters and ballroom music played by a live band.

“Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

It’s the familiar raised tone of Beomgyu’s voice every time he’s irritated. Soobin caught it amidst the loud music and mindless chatters of the other vampires. He could find the guy anywhere, weirdly enough, as he had the annoying voice imprinted in the back of his mind. His last request that had been haunting him the past few days of his disappearance.

_“Will you find me again and kill me, if that happens?”_

Instead of a dark alley, Soobin finds him in the fancy ballroom illuminated by countless of lights. There’s no blood spilled, only glasses of wine stacked on a table and pretentious smiles plastered over lipstick-smeared lips.

And then he caught a sight of the vampire, looking just like the last time Soobin saw him. He is being cornered against an ice decoration. The heat of his stare towards the person he’s talking with would probably melt the ice anytime soon.

“How about _you_ leave the family, Choi Beomgyu? You’re a disgrace. Can’t even find your mate and now raising a newborn bitch—“

“Watch your mouth!” Beomgyu hisses, flash of silver burning in his eyes.

“Isn’t that the truth? You bring nothing but shame every time your name is mentioned. Why are you not ashamed of yourself?”

“Why is it any of your business?”

“I’m your fucking brother, you little—“

“Excuse me, sorry for the wait, Beomgyu,” at that time, Soobin decided to step in, holding two glass of wine on his hand. He hands one to Beomgyu as he takes a better look at the other male claimed to be his brother. Recognition soon fills his eyes. “Good evening. Didn’t we meet last time? I sure hope our next meeting won’t be inside another interrogation room.”

His eyes glow with anger for a split second as he stares at the smiling officer, but it quickly subsides as he lowers his head in a polite, defeated nod..

Soon, they are finally left alone, and Soobin caught the first look into the pair of eyes staring up at him. He always finds them pretty, in a solemn way. But tonight, those eyes trapped a bunch of stars, and they are twinkling inside the dark orbs to greet him.

It’s as though Beomgyu has anticipated his arrival.

And Soobin lived up to it.

“I found you.”

==

Darkness and solitary are the worst combination.

Beomgyu thought he died a few times inside that room, blanketed by perpetual darkness and companied only by his own dark thoughts. There was not much space to move, so for the longest time, he sat on the corner of that cubical room, eyes wide open and nails clawing at his own skin.

There was no telling on how much time passed since he was shoved into that room. The space was soundproof, and no one checked on him for what felt like years.

The only thing that made him aware of the time passing by in his confinement was the hunger. It came in a slow, harmless tickle at first, sitting in the pit of his stomach like a harmless cat. The next time he opened his eyes, it had grown into a beast, scratching the walls of his stomach and climbing up his throat in a scream.

He had been hungry before, but never like this.

That was when he realized how dangerous a feral vampire could be, by witnessing himself turn into something he loathed. A mere blood-sucking vessel drained off his humanity, slowly reduced into a mere desire to _feedfeedfeed_.

Even as he is standing there in the middle of ballroom, with a complete grasp of his senses again now, he still couldn’t get that picture of himself out of his mind.

That’s what he is going to be the longer it takes to find his mate.

“Where have you been?” Soobin finally asks after a long silence hanging between them.

They steered out of the balcony after that argument he had with Jeongwoon. Ever since he stepped into this place, he knew that something like that was bound to happen, if not him who exploded first. There’s so much sneers and mocking glance from your half-siblings a person can take.

“Punishment,” he says simply. “He’s so creative with punishments. I don’t know how I was stuck with you last time.”

“Is it that bad?”

His free hand is being taken into a gentle hold around his wrist. There are barely healed scars all over his fingers down to his wrists from where he was clawing into the silver spikes of the door. He still remembers the bloody sight of the door that comes into view when the room was suddenly filled with lights at the end of his imprisonment.

After he fed, the cuts have faded into these pink lines. He sure hopes they disappear completely later on. There’s no need to keep a memento of a fucked up punishment.

“It’s the worst ever, but I think I’m still lucky? I know someone who was tortured under water for days. Killed and brought back countless of times,” he says, shuddering at the thought.

That’s when he feels the hold tightens around his wrist, before it slides down to properly engulf his hand. He looks down at Soobin’s hand that’s casually holding his subtly trembling one, instantly reminded of that day in the car when the vampire was trying to comfort him without even sparing a look.

It’s that feeling again. The feeling reminded him of the past when he still has a heart beating inside his chest. The feeling of discovering something new, such as the first time he tasted those popping candies that explodes on his tongue, sending pleasant shiver down his body. Or the first time he rode a rollercoaster, being plunged down from its highest peak. Heart-wrenching yet exciting. It’s blooming inside his chest, growing bigger and bigger until the cavern is filled up and squeezing the space for his lungs and it’s hard to breathe. But it’s not a bad kind of suffocation.

There’s also that itch again. The one he felt when he saw Choi Soobin for the first time in that dark alley. It’s similar to the urge to feed, but in a gentle, yet more dangerous one. 

Every time he sees Soobin, it is always a conflict of being too full and too hungry at the same time.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

He looks up at the elder, still dazed from his thoughts. “Stop doing that.”

“What—“

“Finding me and holding my hands and all that dreamy things. It makes me—“he stops himself just in time, slapping himself on the face. The sound causes both of them to jump. Their hands losing the warm connection.

“What was that?” Soobin frowns, though with a subtle hint of amusement in his voice.

The moment he reached out for the reddened mark on Beomgyu’s cheek, the vampire knows better to avoid it this time. He headbutts the hand, turning around quickly to give his back at the latter with the excuse to stare off the distance of city lights from the balcony.

“I think my father had been pretty lenient with me, though. That’s why the others never liked me much,” he switches back the topic, arms extended to reach out for non-existent thing in the air. “Probably pitied me since I haven’t found my mate.”

Soobin hums, taking the spot next to him, but facing the other way. “Do you really want to find your mate?”

“I don’t know, honestly. I tried so hard in the beginning, but it’s already burnt out. It does piss me off, though, when the lucky ones can’t appreciate what’s given to them. Like Jeongwoon, who found his mate just to kill the poor guy.”

“Why would he do that?” Soobin frowns.

“Breaking the connection. As long as they had the blood, they would have obtained the control over their hunger, so some assholes don’t want to be tied down any further, especially for those who won’t let humans have any control over them,” he explains, punctuating it with a shrug. “It’s just like how the connections break off after our mates pass away.”

The silence settles between them again afterwards, with Soobin twisting his lips in thought next to him. With this comfortable silence, he can hear the pretentious party that goes on; the sound of claps after a delivered speech. It’s nice, to be separated from both the vampire and human worlds like this.

“Would you give up everything to meet them though, your mate?”

Beomgyu turns to look at the other male, catching his gaze right away as Soobin is also looking at him. “What’s with all the questions?”

“Just answer.”

“Maybe I just want the hunger to stop,” he says softly, biting down on his lip at the thought of the carnal hunger he felt inside that solitary bunker. His words come out as a whisper next. Fears clinging onto each syllables. “I don’t want to turn into a monster.”

“You won’t.”

He scoffs at that. “And you are so sure, because?”

“Even if you do, I’ll always find you and kill you before you turn into one,” Soobin smiles, nudging his side with an elbow. “With how much I had to put up with you, let me be the one who stakes you, at least.”

That sounds grim, not even close to bringing him comfort, yet Beomgyu still feels the warmth filling his chest again.

Choi Soobin can do the barest minimum and still makes him _feel_.

“I would like to see you _try_.”

==

Taehyun is not sure what part of training or test could be done in a dark, loud place full of humans. But then again, he has learned not to question Choi Yeonjun.

It’s not like this is the first time he is ever visited a night club. Being acquaintance with a lot of celebrities in the few years of his career, there were occasions where he had to go along with this social activity as he deems as _too mundane_. Now that he is seeing it from his vampire eyes, it does feel too humane.

The thought makes him scoff. What is he even doing, referring to himself as one of the vile creatures?

Even Yeonjun appears to blend in too well in the setting. He has disappeared into the dance floor packed with bodies the moment they stepped into the place, leaving Taehyun to his own without any explanation. It leaves him wandering his way to the bar. Too bad it doesn’t serve the only thing he craves.

It’s been a while since the first time he fed. And he fed _a lot_. But the hunger is not as bad as when he was still living off Beomgyu’s blood like a parasite.

Just as he is about to claim a seat by the bar, he is pulled backwards by his jacket. As he swivels around with irritation in his face, he is facing Choi Yeonjun again. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Getting a drink?”

“Nope. If you get out of this alive, I’ll buy you a drink, but for now…”

“What do you mean alive—“

He’s not getting any explanation as he’s steered into the floor. This is the part he hates the most from clubbing. All the bodies swaying and sticking to him, the hair sticking to his face, blinking lights that now appear too lurid to his eyes.

The moment he feels _it_ , he instantly realizes what Yeonjun is doing. Amidst all the people and the loud music blaring from the speakers, he can still catch the sound of blood rush inside an artery, could see the pulsing right under someone’s neck when they step too close to him. When he inhales, he can catch a whiff of blood somewhere. Someone probably has a small cut, but it’s enough to trigger the desire inside him.

He clamps a hand over his mouth the moment he feels a familiar sting on his gums, stepping back right into someone’s solid form. He feels a puff of breath tickling the back of his earlobe, followed by a familiar voice whispering into his ear.

“You see, if you try to do anything funny, I assure you that you won’t come out of this place alive.”

And then Yeonjun is gone. He is alone in the dance floor with too many bodies around him.

“Oh, it’s Taehyun, right?”

He recognizes the girl as one of the idols he had to work with in a teenage web-drama. They talked a little, but not close enough. It’s just his luck that she decided that this is the perfect time to talk to him.

“Selene,” he says, only remembering her stage name since that’s what everyone called her by. “Are you here with your boyfriend?”

“Yeah, he’s off somewhere though,” she says, flipping her black locks off her shoulder. The movement exposes the side of his neck to Taehyun, who can see the pulsing vein under her skin. He has to bit the inside of his cheek until it bleeds to pry his gaze away and focuses his attention back to the girl. She’s saying something. Focus.

“…the hospital?”

“Pardon me?”

“I’m talking about Hueningkai! Isn’t he hospitalized?”

“Oh right… News travel fast, huh?”

That, thankfully, managed to kill the urges slowly building under Taehyun’s skin. Just the reminder of Kai lying down limply on his couch, trickle of blood leaving the small wounds on his neck. Kai almost died because of him.

It goes like that for the rest of the night. He almost lost it a couple of times more because someone tried to talk to him or get him to dance together, but he finds out that the image of Hueningkai is good enough to stave off the inevitable.

Only when he feels a grip on his shoulders that pull him away from his living hell that he can finally breathe again.

“I’m impressed. No slightest hint of losing it. Perfect score on your first time? Unheard of,” Yeonjun says when they get to a quieter place, a boyish grin on his lips.

Not like the guy was looking at him anyway. Taehyun caught him having too much fun showing off his dance moves back then. But it works on his favour, so he’s not complaining as he gets pulled out of the place. Fresh air from the street instantly clears his mind off the cloud of hunger.

“Time for that drink I promised!”


	6. Chapter 6

It baffles even himself, how Taehyun is just letting this rude blonde drag him around without telling him anything.

Perhaps it has something to do with _fear_ , knowing what Yeonjun is capable to do since the first night they met. There is also all these tests that required him to behave well towards the vampire if he wanted to live. Another thing that he can’t help to notice is the little spark of admiration that is shamelessly sprouting inside him.

When he is not overtaken by his vampire senses that urging him to rip the blonde apart, Taehyun is aware of Yeonjun’s way of steering him away into submitting into his carnal desire to feed.

This time, it’s not another training room or nightclub.

The place gives off a same vibe as a hospital. Starting from the white interior, and completed by the dominating scent of antiseptic wafting from every corner of it with every intake of breath. There are small cubicles with opaque glasses as a wall. From the movement of shadows, Taehyun can see people inside the cubes.

“What is this place?”

Yeonjun’s first response is to smirk smugly, leaving him behind to walk over at the receptionist. “You’ll see.”

The lady behind the desk looks up from her computer, only to lose her smile the moment she spots Yeonjun. “No. You can’t skip the line again, Yeonjun-ssi.”

“Aw, come on! He hasn’t fed for over a week. Do you want to see a feral vampire losing it? Is that it?” he whines, breaking off the character so quickly Taehyun almost had a whiplash. “Just this once, Min?”

The girl called Min just rolls her eyes, acting nonchalant despite the twitch of a corner of her lips. Plus the fact that she’s already looking through her computer again. “You said that last time, though.”

“Wasn’t last time like twenty years ago?”

Taehyun takes another look at the lady, assuming that she’s another vampire since she can pass as a teenager. It still hasn’t dawned on him, how there are a lot of these creatures mixing into his society, and everyone is stuck in their blissful ignorance.

That’s him, until it’s not.

“I can do this for him, since I’m a fan of his latest drama,” she says, turning to face him with a brightest smile on her lips. “Kang Taehyun, right? Room 205 in 15 minutes. I’ll make you the membership card by the end of this visit and you can access your next schedules through our mobile application.”

“Huh-“

“Damn. Celeb privilege, I do miss that,” Yeonjun sighs dramatically, thanking Min before dragging Taehyun away again.

When he enters the assigned cubicle later on, Taehyun already has some assumptions about the nature of this place. It’s probably some kind of health check-up, just like the one health application he had that reminded him to schedule a check-up every few months.

But there is only a single person sitting in the middle of the room, and he doesn’t look much like a doctor or nurse. There is no bed or other medical equipment, only a chair that the male is sitting down in the middle of the room.

“Okay, come here, little lamb. I’m sure I don’t have to teach you how to use your teeth anymore.”

That jerks himself out of his little pondering, eyeing Yeonjun cautiously where he has moved to stand behind the person. This person is a human, for sure, since Taehyun can hear the pulsing of blood in his veins because of the quietness of the room. He only realizes what the elder is referring about seeing Yeonjun’s gloved fingers tap on the side of the stranger’s neck.

“What? Is this even legal?” he frowns, throwing a dubious look at the pair.

“Yeah, this is kinda how we survive, you see. There’s a small part of your former society that’s aware of us, and they are gladly volunteering in return of some cash,” Yeonjun explains, adding quickly with a twist of his lips into a derisive smile. “And some pleasure, I guess.”

“What do you mean?”

“You absolutely know nothing, huh? When you bite someone, your fangs secrete some kind of drugs that makes humans docile with bliss. It’s not addictive or anything, but some humans do like it.”

That’s sick. As if vampires are not already stronger than humans, they have another built-in predatory feature to keep their prey down chemically. This kind of new knowledge only makes Taehyun’s hatred for the creature grows even more. That includes his hatred for the thing he has become.

“Not for long, though. They’re going to start hurting again if you take more than necessary,” Yeonjun keeps going, before finally stomping a foot on the floor from impatience as he sees no movement from the newborn. “Do you want to feed or not?”

“Beomgyu hyung said it hurt.”

“Which part of _human_ do you not understand?”

His head is still filled with hesitation, but his legs are slowly bringing him forward until he stands next to Yeonjun. The human is not saying anything for the whole time, sitting there like he is good for nothing else other than being a blood supply for these blood-sucking creatures.

He stands behind the stranger, figuring that he would feel less guilty if he’s not taking a look at his face. But he doesn’t need any of that, since he is reminded of the hunger clawing from inside his abdomen, and he feels the piercing canines pushing against his lips.

That’s it. He is less than human now, he has to do this to survive.

Shutting his eyes, he gives in to the instinct yet again. He whispers _I’m sorry_ to the male, just a second before he lets his fangs sink into the supple skin. It gives in easily under the sharp points. As the blood fills his mouth and trickle down his throat, the predator is taking over his mind again.

This human is nothing more than a blood bag. He is on top of the world.

“Time to stop.”

He registers Yeonjun’s voice through the cloud of bliss in his head, but he can’t find it in himself to do whatever he requested. It tastes way too delightful. Especially now that he’s no guilt to deal with.

“Kang Taehyun.”

He should be worried, right? Yeonjun’s voice sounds stern now, like he would throw him across the room if he doesn’t stop right away. But no. He still wants more.

More.

More more _more_.

The chanting in his delirious mind diminishes the moment he feels his head being jerked back by his hair. He groans, such an animalistic sound he didn’t know he could make before. His hair is still clutched inside Yeonjun’s grip in a way that tilts his head back in a painful angle.

No matter how much he struggles, he can’t get out from the grip. And in the end, he just ends up slumping against the latter. His breath starts slowing down while his head clears out again.

“You decided to go feral on your first normal feeding? Seems like you still need more supervision, huh.”

“No…no, please,” he whimpers, making a face when he could feel the thick liquid on his lips the moment he speaks. He brings a hand up to touch his lips, eyes widening at the remnants of blood clinging onto his fingertips.

When Yeonjun releases his grip abruptly, he falls to the floor, still staring at his bloody fingers.

This is what he had become. A creature with an uncontrollable desire to drink human’s blood, living day to day by taking what is not supposed to be his. _A parasite._ He has spiralled down the path into acceptance of what he’s become.

There’s no going back.

==

Because of the arrangement of their past 24/7 supervision phase, Beomgyu knows that their feeding schedules are still synced. Still, to actually meet Choi Soobin at the blood centre without any prior agreement is a little unsettling.

It’s not helpful that the certain purple haired vampire has been living in his mind rent-free.

“Oh, it’s Beomgyu.”

He recognizes the voice first before he registers the face of the tall male stopping right before him. He blinks up at him, making sure that it is not just his imagination materializing into a solid form. Soobin closes the cubicle door behind before making his way towards him.

“You’re like, everywhere,” he scoffs.

“I know right? We’re not even tied by responsibilities anymore and we’re still meeting a lot.”

Soobin laughs, and Beomgyu caught the hint of crimson glinting over his bow-shaped lips. It shouldn’t be much of a wonder. They are at their feeding place, and Soobin literally just walked out of a feeding room. How many times does he have to tell himself that Soobin is a vampire for it to be permanently stamped into his brain?

He might have stared at Soobin’s lips for a little too long, because the vampire appears to be self-conscious. He brings his hand up, brushing the side of his index finger along his wet bottom lip. The movement imprints a smear of crimson across the finger, making the guy cringe.

“Didn’t know you’re such a messy eater,” Beomgyu deadpans, eyes still following the movements of Soobin’s fingers.

“I’m usually not!” he says defensively.

Just as the fingers are about to wipe themselves down the front of Soobin’s white shirt, Beomgyu’s hand shoots up to grab his wrist. The sudden grab invites a questioning look from the taller, once that he missed, since he’s more focused on something else now.

That is, namely, pulling Soobin’s hand towards his mouth. His tongue peeking out to give a kitten lick across the stained digit.

The taste stings his tongue first, before the realization of what he’s doing fell upon his head. He drops the hand quickly as if being electrocuted. His mouth parts and closes in search of words, finally just giving up speaking at all as he slaps a hand over his own forehead.

“Oh crap, I’m already late to my appointment by five minutes."

“See you soon?” Soobin still smiles at him, not looking weirded out in the slightest.

It must be easy being that guy, and not Choi Beomgyu who is ready to be swallowed up by the earth at the moment. He nods, side-stepping the officer to the direction of his room. Just a few steps away, he’s already turning back around, calling out Soobin’s name.

“Do you have some time to spare after this?” he asks, cursing himself mentally for sounding so nervous. At that moment, the first light of sunshine filters into the corridor from the glossed window. Morning has come, and Soobin is going to visit the part of his word which doesn’t include Beomgyu. “Probably not, I guess.”

But Soobin shakes his head, a reassuring smile on his lips. “It’s Sunday, so I’ll be free. Meet you at the lobby?”

He nods slowly before turning around again just to make a sprint down the corridor. Now he’s even making promises to meet the officer. Just how low has he gotten at this point?

By the time he left his feeding room, bidding good bye to one of his regulars (a very nice lady in her 30s, always letting him rant before feeding), he has a spring on his steps all the way to the lobby. After what he’s been dealing with for the past few months, Beomgyu thinks that he deserves to let himself free for a day.

As cruel as it might sound, he is planning to use Choi Soobin for that purpose.

The thought dies down as quickly as it’s bloomed. The reason being what he’s witnessing by the time he steps out to the lobby. He caught the sight of the yellowish blonde hair first, and then Soobin who’s talking to the guy. And then he spots the red haired male sitting on a chair not far from where the two are talking.

Kang Taehyun.

He is very much alive, and he is in a blood centre. There are so many questions stirring inside his head for the latter, but that’s not the focus here. The focus being his best friend whom he thought was as good as dead turning up in the place that’s so uncharacteristical of him.

“Taehyun!” he calls out before even entering the vast lobby.

That’s his first mistake. The red haired male looks alarmed upon hearing his voice, now staring at him with wide eyes as he makes a little run towards him.

Before he could reach him, Taehyun is already bolting away. His legs carrying him faster than Beomgyu has ever seen him run before.

“Taehyun! What the fuck are you doing?” he shouts, frowning.

“I don’t want to see you, hyung!”

It hurts, but Beomgyu is not going to back down without any explanation.

“What—“

As he watched the red hair open the front door of the lobby, he’s halted by a grab on his shoulder from behind. He almost snarls at the intruder, only to find a displeased blonde vampire on his tail.

“What the fuck are _you_ doing?” he shoots at Beomgyu, turning his gaze towards Taehyun just to toss him a set of keys. “Wait for me in the car.”

It doesn’t take him a second to catch the keys before disappearing from their sights.

Beomgyu slaps Yeonjun’s hand away and is ready to make another run, only to be tripped by a foot extended before his ankle. That’s a dirty trick, one that sends him tumbling to the floor with a loud thud and a pained groan.

“Why do you think that you’re allowed to even look at him, Choi Beomgyu? You’re only free to roam around the street now because of your privilege. But that little newborn? He is mine,” Yeonjun says, his voice edging to a growl.

Beomgyu feels a weight pressing down his back, sending him flat down onto the floor with an angry scream. The heavy boot Yeonjun’s wearing digs against his back as he struggles, but he can’t even budge under the pressure brought by _one_ leg.

“What are you saying—let go of me!” he screams, only to choke on his breath when the boot makes contact with his side in a swift kick. As he glares up, Yeonjun is crouching by him and slapping his cheek gently with the back of his hand, making him grit out his teeth.

“I’m saying that his life is mine. Whether he lives or dies, I’m the one who decides that,” he says with an annoying lopsided smile on his lips. “Sad, huh? Maybe you should’ve thought about the consequences before you turned him.”

“Are you really telling me that? _YOU?_ ” he breaks into a loud laughter. “Did you _think_ of the consequences when you turned your mate into one of us? And then having to be the one who staked her? DID YOU?”

Just as the words left Beomgyu’s lips, he is hit straight on the chest by fear. It comes from the way Yeonjun’s eyes flash. Sparks of fire swimming inside the depth of the golden orbs. It’s the first sign of wrath, and Beomgyu is ready for even more pain inflicted on him when he locates a hand landing on Yeonjun’s shoulder.

“Hyung, let’s stop it here,” comes Soobin’s gentle voice. “Just leave him to me.”

No. You’re just going to enrage him further. Please.

“Yeonjun hyung.”

Instead of whatever Beomgyu has feared, the fire dies in Yeonjun’s eyes at the presence of Soobin next to him. He spares a glance at the taller male, just a second, before it hardens again the moment his eyes landed back on Beomgyu.

“Maybe you’ll behave better knowing that I can and _will_ put a stake through your friend’s heart if you irritate me further.”

With that, he leaves the two in silence.

Beomgyu stays on the floor for a bit more, cheek pressed to the coldness of the tile as he recalls the scene. Taehyun running away from him, Yeonjun’s words. Everything started with that car crash, followed with his selfish wish to keep his friend alive.

Now, he’s losing everything.

==

Soobin thought that it was a peaceful day. His work at the council office mainly consisted of paperworks since Yeonjun’s busy with his other project, and he could sign off early because he had to feed. He thought that it would end in a good note, especially after Beomgyu asked him to meet after his feeding session.

After the event that unfolded in barely five minutes, it ruined all his expectations for a peaceful end to his day.

It continues like this:

He has to drive Beomgyu’s car since the vampire is busy crying. After the little meltdown he had in the lobby, he hasn’t stopped crying. Even now, he’s still sniffling on the passenger seat. Soft fingers brushing droplets of tears off his cheeks almost angrily.

The sun is fully up when they reached their destination. Only once the car is parked in the basement that Soobin is finally turning his full attention at the other.

“Are you not tired? You’ve been crying ever since we left the place,” he says with a sigh, extending his hand to swat Beomgyu’s hands away.

His eyes look all irritated because of all the brushing. They are going to heal up quickly, but he still finds it unsettling. The thought of Beomgyu being in discomfort bothers him for some reasons.

“I am. I’m so _so_ tired,” he says, hiccupping softly. At least he’s stopped crying now, though his eyes are still too watery when he looks at Soobin. “I’m tired of losing my friend. I lost him once in that accident, and now I’m losing him to that fucker Choi Yeonjun. Soon, I’m going to lose him to death? He’s going to suffer for nothing?”

“He’s getting better. He will be okay in no time.”

“He doesn’t even want to talk to me anymore. What if he hates me?” he whispers under his breath. His voice starts trembling again that it alerts Soobin once more.

A fat tear builds up a corner of his eye again, but Soobin is quick to reach out and catch it. He cups Beomgyu’s cheeks in his hands. His thumbs catching the warm tears.

“It’s just _a lot_ for him right now, and you’re the one who turned him. It can be too much for him to speak with you right now,” he says, watching as Beomgyu blinks slowly. Teardrops clinging to his eyelashes. “What he needs right now is some space, to make sense of himself. He will reach out to you once he’s ready.”

“Were you like that when you turned?” he asks.

It’s Soobin’s turn to blink at the latter. He really doesn’t want to think about those dark times, would rather stay in the present than to recall his nightmares voluntarily. But Beomgyu needs a little reassurance, especially since he’s one of those who didn’t have to experience it.

“Yes, I was turned against my will and on the verge of my death as well,” he finally says, dropping his hands from Beomgyu’s face, but still keeping his gaze locked at him. “It’s just that the person was vile, so his intention wasn’t like yours to Taehyun.”

The distress in the vampire’s eyes turned into confusion now, laced with curiosity. “Who was it? Yeonjun?”

“Not him,” he scoffs. “Someone who’s not around anymore.”

“But you still think about them.” Soobin bites his lip, unable to answer that with a coherent sentence. So he resorts to a shrug. “What’s his name? If you don’t mind talking about the person you must hate.”

“It’s fine. There’s no use fearing a name,” he says with a small laugh, betraying himself as he thinks about the person who changed his life for the first time since he vowed to never think about him anymore. But he gets a feeling that it would be okay. It feels right, confiding in Beomgyu. “His name is Haru.”

Beomgyu looks at him with his head tilted to a side, lips parted but with no words falling off from the tiers. It’s as if he’s formulating questions inside his head, and Soobin takes advantage to start talking again before he could do that.

“Well, so that’s enough about me. Taehyun’s going to be okay. I’ve watched Yeonjun work for years. Heck. I was even in Taehyun’s place before. Yeonjun’s harsh, but he’s not mean, he…”

By this time, he decided to end his narration early seeing that Beomgyu is not listening to his attempt to reroute the topic. The guy is just staring up with him with dazed eyes, blinking away the rest of his tears. It’s as if a tap has been turned off with how the tears dried up so quickly, and the vampire appears to be bothered by something else completely.

He is proven right the moment Beomgyu speaks again.

“I think being mate-less fucked up my judgment, making me hungry all the time. I even wanted to drink your blood the first time I saw you, can you believe that?”

The reminder of that night makes Soobin scrunch up his nose. “Yeah, I can’t believe that either, but—“

“Now I realized that I’m just in love with you.”

“What—“Soobin chokes, coughing uncontrollably. He takes a moment before he could bring his gaze back at the latter, eyes stung with tears from his coughing fit. “I think I misheard…”

“No, that’s the only explanation! I mistook the feeling of love at the first sight because of my hunger. And then every time I see you, I always feel this clawing in my stomach? Like an unpleasant ache,” Beomgyu is looking straight at him now, holding onto his arm to keep their gazes locked in a way that’s too intimidating for a love confession. ”Then I realized that it’s because I’m attracted to you.”

Soobin has been alive for decades, but this is the first time someone has confessed his feelings so directly to him. Not that he’s ever had real romantic connection with anyone in his life. It’s a whole new territory of him. One that he still tries to make sense the moment he feels the protective urge towards this guy who’s now staring at him expectantly.

And he hasn’t found any answer to his own doubts.

Though he’s pretty sure it would still be hard for him even after he’s lived for three centuries.

“Beomgyu…”

The call of his name seems to snap the boy off his daze. Upon one look to Soobin’s face, he breaks into a laugh, bringing his hands up to brush the remnants of his tears with the back of them. Now he’s all smiling again, seemingly relieved than anything else.

“You don’t have to say anything. I didn’t tell you all that because I wanted your response.”

“Still, I—“

Beomgyu slaps a hand over his mouth. “Stop right there. That’s what I wanted to tell you before, so yeah. You can go now if you want.”

“Do you want me to stay?”

“I do,” he answers truthfully, then smiles up at him. “But not today. Thank you for listening to me being pathetic, Soobin-ah.”

He gets off from the car before he can summon any words to reply. His tongue is heavy in his mouth now, as he watches the smaller figure makes a run towards the entrance of the hospital. As if his own feelings haven’t been confusing enough to himself, that guy just has to make it even more complicated for Soobin.

It takes Soobin exactly ten minutes to gather himself before he follows Beomgyu’s trace into the building. Knowing it’s a hospital, there’s no other guess to what the vampire is doing. And he easily finds his way to the only ward that’s holding the victim of a vampire attack not long ago.

Officer’s privilege.

He just wanted to hand Beomgyu’s car keys, but he’s met with the sight of the vampire curling up against the patient on his bed when he opens the door. The patient himself, Hueningkai, looks startled upon seeing him. His fingers coming into a halt where they are in the middle of running through Beomgyu’s messy locks.

“Uhm… hi? This is nothing like you think it is,” he says.

That makes Soobin break into an amused grin. He walks into the ward, placing the car keys gently on the bedside table. “I’m not thinking about anything. Also, it’s a surprise that you’re still in the hospital.”

“My dad owns the hospital, so he wants to keep me longer.”

Makes sense. Soobin starts to get sick of hearing things about these rich boys and their privileged daddies.

“Well, I’m just going to leave then. Get well soon—“

“Hold on. Can you do me a favour?”

Soobin blinks at the question, staring at the guy who is now looking up at him with hopeful doe eyes. Before he knows it, he is already making his way to the vending machine not far from the ward, sighing to himself as he scans the selection of drinks. Just how did he go to an officer, a peacemaker, a driver, and then an errand boy in the span of a night?

As the bottle of grape juice falls onto the hole, someone’s hand is already taking it before he could. He snaps his gaze up in disapproval only to meet Hueningkai’s bright smile.

“Soobin right? Can I call you Soobin hyung? I’m Kai.”

The guy is walking in his hospital pajamas, not even attached to an IV drip or anything.

“You should’ve gotten the drink on your own if you could walk…” he says, exhaling a tired sigh.

“I want to have a little talk with you while Beomgyu hyung is asleep,” Kai says, hope filling his eyes. Now, this feels more like a trick than anything else. Soobin feels absolutely tricked for agreeing the first time. “Can we talk? Please!”

Soobin breathes out another sigh, running a hand down his face in defeat. He’s lost too much sleep for these kids.


	7. Chapter 7

“I want to be a vampire, too.”

It takes one, two, three seconds for the statement to sink in. When it does, the tall purple haired guy Kai just met starts breaking into a fit of coughs. Another one. The mouthful of cola he just sipped sputtered back out onto the can. It should be a gross sight, but there is a certain air around vampires that make everything they do turn graceful, now that Kai is aware of their existence. 

“Ah, yes, take your time. No need to rush!” he says cheerfully, patting the guy on the back to ease his coughing. “Before you try to make excuses, I know you’re a vampire, and Beomgyu hyung, too. So we can skip that part.”

“I’m not making excuses…”

“So… it’s a yes?” he perks up quickly. 

“No! How did you even come into that conclusion?” the vampire exhales a groan, inching away towards the other end of the sofa to get away from Kai’s casual touch. His eyes flit momentarily to glance at Beomgyu’s sleeping figure on the hospital bed before they find their way back to Kai’s anticipating ones. “Why are you even asking me? We’re strangers to each other.”

That makes him twist his lips in thought, but not for long. He has had countless of nights of lonesomeness in this very same hospital room, enough time for the thoughts to materialize in his head into a more solid idea. 

He’s not sure how they expected him to forget everything about that night after he blacked out.

The flash of crimson eyes that matched Taehyun’s eyes, the sharp points of the fangs growing past Taehyun’s lips, the blinding sensation of being bitten that slowly turned into pain. He could remember everything. He even remembers Taehyun’s face when he pulled away; the horror-stricken face when what’s left of his best friend stared down at him with a pair of eyes Kai couldn’t recognize anymore.

He shakes his head to get rid of the vivid images, returning his attention back to the vampire.

“Cause there’s no way Beomgyu hyung or Taehyun would do it for me.”

“If you know their story, you’d understand why they won’t.”

“But I do know! Beomgyu hyung told me everything last time. It’s funny how they’re keeping me in the dark all this time,” he scoffed, though with no malice in his eyes, just a solemn look that would give anyone the urge to pet his head.

He always wondered how Beomgyu and Taehyun got out of that car wreck with barely any bruise on their bodies. His questions were always answered with more questions, until he had to learn it the hard way that night. He should be mad at Beomgyu, right? For turning Taehyun into  _ his _ kind. Instead, he could only feel the selfish relief blooming in his chest as soon as he heard the story from the hyung, knowing that it was the sole reason he’s not losing Kang Taehyun.

“If you know their story, why would you want to go through that?” Soobin questions with a grimace.

_ Why would anyone willingly want to turn into a vampire after barely making it out alive from that kind of experience? _ That’s the actual question. Or perhaps something along the line of  _ Why would you want to turn into that kind of beast who would hurt your own best friend? _

The answer lies in the memory of linked pinky fingers and innocent smiles, and a promise that was thoughtlessly spouted by a kindergartener who hasn’t grasped a concept of unconditional love. But he knew even back then when he looked into Taehyun’s wide, teary eyes, he meant every word of the promise that he made.

“I made a promise to Taehyun that I’ll be by his side forever.”

Soobin gives him a look, a sad yet understanding one. “His forever is different now—“

“That’s why I need to change mine!” he replies quickly, fire filling his gaze now. “If there’s a way I could keep the promise, I’d make it happen.”

“Hey, kid…”

“Can you help me?” he shifts closer towards the other, putting his best pleading look. “Please? I don’t know what else to do, or where to ask. I could find a way, but I’m not sure it’d be safe for me.”

No, he has no idea on how to find a way. These two are the only vampires he has never made a contact with other than Taehyun. But he knows that the trick works the moment he spots a trace of concern in Soobin’s eyes. Despite being what’s known as a predatory creature, Soobin gives off a gentle and reliable vibe. Kai had to use it to his advantage. 

“Listen, even if you beg me, I don’t have any power to make that happen,” the vampire says. That shoots the last hope he had in his chest, making his shoulders slump down in dejection. He’s not paying attention when Soobin rummages through the pockets of his blazers, producing a small silver card glinting under the minimum light of the room. “I won’t tell you that this is a definitive way, but—“

Before Soobin could finish his sentence, Kai is already snatching the card out of his grip. His eyes got back their shine as they scan the content. It’s just a name and a phone number, with a logo of an organization called  _ Council Officers _ printed on the top right corner of the card. 

If there is a way he could keep his promise to Taehyun, even if the chance is only 1%, he will make it happen. 

==

Soobin didn’t always like orphanages. 

The laughter of his friends and the younger kids were the only things keeping him there for so long, and then he was on the street by the time he knew enough not to settle for that kind of life. Even as a kid, he already knew that he wanted  _ more.  _

He was that kid who flinched at the slightest sound of wind, yet he survived on the street for most his teenage years. He made a lot of friends, elder ones who initially bullied him into being their servant and ended up adopting him into their group. He learnt how to fight, because that was how someone like him could stay alive. 

Lastly, he learnt not to trust a vampire. 

The first vampire he met was a beautiful one. He had long silver hair, pretty rings decorating his fingers, and a sweet tongue. It was his way of speaking that lulled him into giving his utmost trust, never once questioning why such a pretty guy could end up in that slum. The man was known as Haru. 

It was a wholesome friendship. Haru would show up every night behind that small pub Soobin worked at. They talked about endless things for hours, until the guy had to leave and Soobin would crawl back into the pub. The owner was nice enough to let him sleep there as long as he worked with little to no payment. 

The twist of event happened the day Haru asked him a strange question. “Have you ever felt like you’re supposed to do more? Like your existence in this world should be bigger than  _ this _ ?” 

It’s like the guy was inside his head, swimming in the depth of his secret thoughts and hidden desires, until he had nothing else to conceal. 

“Yes. Always,” he answered.

“Say, if you could stay alive by the end of this week, I would love to show you how you can be more,” Haru said, reaching out to pet his cheek gently. It was really bizarre, even eerie, with the implication that something were to happen throughout the week. But Soobin was lost in the gentleness of the other’s eyes. “Do you want that, Soobin? Would you let me make something more out of you?”

There were several thoughts flitting about his head, but he could only have a positive vibe from this man. Naively, he came into a conclusion that Haru would take him along to the city, out of this little slump full of the homeless and poverty. 

That week, the first wave of feral newborns was let into the village. 

Later on, Soobin learned that this was caused by some irresponsible vampires who tried to multiply their kind, without thinking of a way to hold them back. Those vampires let these newborns feed on the weak. Every night, the street was littered by screams. Bodies found scattered in the middle of the street when the first light of sun hit the slum. 

On the last day of the week, the vampires started to break into houses, as they had finished the homeless from their peaceful sleep on the street. Soobin tried to fend off his attacker, despite the blood freezing in his veins seeing the inhuman features of his opponent. The blazing eyes and sharp fangs were the one making him attack in a frenzy, stabbing the vampire anywhere he could reach. 

That barely hurt the vampire, but it angered the creature enough to throw Soobin across the street. He hit a brick wall with an intense pain, knowing that he had broken a few bones in his body, plus the wall that crumbled down onto him when he slumped onto the ground. He was as good as dead back there, but at least he wasn’t drained off his blood like the other people living in the area. 

Just before the break of dawn, he caught a sight of long silver hair and the last shine of moonlight above them. The bricks were lifted off him, but all he could feel was intense pain that slowly turned into numbness. He was slipping away. 

“You exceeded my expectations, Choi Soobin. I knew that I could use you.”

His eyes were dropping when he felt a prick on his neck, followed by something akin to anaesthetic that made all the pain disappear. He thought that he was going to survive, until something was shoved past his lips. Trickle of metallic taste filled his mouth, and then burned down his insides starting from his throat. 

That was when he snapped his eyes open in shock, catching the first ray of sunlight filling the street. Filling him with scorching pain as if he just swallowed the sun itself. 

_ “Time for a good night sleep.” _

“Time to wake up!”

Soobin opens his eyes to a very familiar face blocking the warm sunlight from shining unto his face. He blinks slowly, trying to collect his disoriented mind until all he can focus on is the smiling lips of the intruder. 

“How did you find me here?” 

“You’re always here every day from eight to eleven. It’s not hard to figure out.”

“Stalker.”

Beomgyu smiles smugly at the accusation. He opens his mouth to counter it, but before any word could slip past his lips, they are interrupted by a screech. 

“Mister! You’re not supposed to help him! He’s been defeated!” the little girl screams at their direction, while Beomgyu is staring at her with his eyes wide open, a finger pointing at his own chest. “Yes, you! Are you a villain, too? Guys!”

“Oh no, Choi Beomgyu, you’re going to be attacked,” Soobin says with a hint of laughter dripping from his voice. For the whole time, he is not moving from where he is lying down on the grass, staring at the panic and confusion that start filling the other vampire’s visage. 

“W-what?”

Before the poor guy can wonder some more, Yejin has summoned the rest of the kids. They are now running towards the two with such determined look in their eyes. The girl is appointed as the leader of the hero team for the day, so she’s the one who launched herself at Beomgyu, knocking him off to land on his butt. The other kids cheer in victory.

Meanwhile, Beomgyu just blinks in confusion, staring at the lapful of tiny human he’s suddenly presented with. “I tagged you! Give some reaction!” she says with a sulky pout. 

Beomgyu blinks a few times before his face is contorted with a fake pained face and he falls back onto the grass as well, exhaling an exaggerated scream that makes the other kids cheer some more. 

“Mister! Your eyes are so pretty!” Yejin says as her little hands cup Beomgyu’s cheeks. She’s staring at the contact lenses Beomgyu wears for his photoshoots. A pair with identical colour of his vampire eyes, just in case his eyes decided to flash during work. “Maybe we should spare the pretty mister!”

Before the group could make a decision, there is a call from the inside of the building. They perk up quickly, biding goodbye at both Soobin and Beomgyu before they make a run back into the building with their little legs. 

“I feel like they would like you a lot if you start coming here more,” Soobin says, still not moving from his position despite being freed from his job already. 

Beomgyu groans, lifting himself up back to squatting next to the elder. A pout hanging on his lips as he looks down. “I’m not like you. Kids and animals usually hate me. Well, even people. I don’t blame them, though.”

That elicits another bout of laughter tumbling off Soobin’s lips, just before they spread into a smile. His eyes still holds the same amusement, enjoying the whole thing too much. “I don’t hate you, though,” he says. The laughter dies down already, but the smile is still etched across his lips just fine. 

Beomgyu stares at him. “Stop doing that.” 

“Huh?”

“Smiling like that. It makes me feel like my heart is throbbing, and it’s weird because I’m kinda, very dead.”

That reminds him of their last conversation in the car. How the vampire bluntly confessed to him about his feelings. It sounded like he was not sure about his feelings, mistaken his urge to feed for affections. Soobin tried to not think about it, but it’s hard to accomplish that when Beomgyu is looking at him like he just broke his heart into pieces. 

Exhaling a deep sigh, he pushes himself up to sit down on the grass, watching as Beomgyu’s eyes round up as their faces grow closer. “Would it be a miracle, if I could bring you back to life?”

He lifts a hand, placing it right on top of Beomgyu’s chest where his heart should be. Cold and dead, resting inside the socket behind his ribs. Beomgyu’s eyelashes flutter at the touch, eyelids dropping as he stares into Soobin’s eyes.

And then he feels it. The soft thump against his palm. 

The beat of Beomgyu’s heart against his chest.

Both of them jerk away at that, staring at each other as if they’ve just seen a ghost. 

“What the fuck?”

==

The very second Soobin arrives at the council building, he storms into Yeonjun’s office.

As usual, the vampire is resting behind his desk. His legs propped onto his desk while his head is cushioned by the arms folded behind it. He doesn’t react the slightest bit at the arrival of the officer, probably already recognized him from the sound of his footsteps. 

“What do you want?” he slurs lazily, not bothering to crack his eyes open. 

Soobin invites himself to sit on the chair on the other side of the desk, staring at the blonde long enough until the vampire got curious on his own. The moment an eye snaps open, that’s when he knows he’s losing the tacit war, groaning as he drops his legs and slams his hands on top of the wood. 

“Why are you here, seriously? Stop staring at me if you’re not in love with me.”

That earns him a disgusted look from the purple haired male, which he only returns with a playful smirk playing across his lips. 

“I have some questions about mates. Pureblood’s mate… since you’ve experienced that and all,” he says hesitantly, swallowing a lump in his throat as he watches Yeonjun’s face darkens from the introduction of the topic. 

“Is it because of that brat mentioning my mate last time?” he asks, a derisive hint on his tone. 

“No! I’m just wondering about something… it’s okay if you’re not comfortable about it though.”

Yeonjun stares at him. The pair of feline eyes holding his own in a silent scrutiny, just as they always does whenever they want to dig some truth from his words. In the end, he sighs in defeat, relaxing back into his chair. 

“Okay, shoot.”

“First, how do you know that you’ve found your mate?” he asks. 

“It was like, centuries ago… do you think I’d still remember?” Yeonjun’s hand shoots up to rub his forehead. For a second, Soobin thinks that this is a dead end, but then Yeonjun’s eyes grow solemn, as if they are staring past him into a scene from far away. “Cause you’re damn right if you do. I remember it like it was just last night.”

“Damn, you’re a romantic,” Soobin deadpans. “So, how was it?”

“There’s no telling, really. You just  _ know _ . The moment I saw her that day, I knew that she was the one.”

That’s not very helpful. 

“But  _ how? _ ” he pushes. “Did you have the urge to feed on her? Or just hold her hand?”

Yeonjun’s face grows stern as he is deep in thought, lines forming on his forehead under his rubbing fingers. “A little of both? It’s like you want to devour them whole but also take care of them at the same time. And that was a little weird since I was a criminal, you know. I stole blood from people without any guilt, so why would I care about a mere mortal?”

“Understandable. That’s how you knew she was the one…” Soobin nods, pretending to understand since he could never relate to this whole matter about vampire-human mate. “Second question, did she have any clue about the connection?”

“Yeah, the humans got their own halves of the connection too. For us, we would feel  _ actually _ fed the moment we tasted their blood, but it affects humans more in emotional sense. They can feel what  _ we _ feel instead of the normal pleasure toxins like other humans would.”

In a split second, Soobin remembers the graze on his index finger from where the point of a certain fang brushes along his skin. The split second of blooming warmth in his chest when he stares into Beomgyu’s round, imploring eyes. The flash of  _ desire _ . 

There is no way this is happening. 

“O-okay. Last question.”

“Are you alright? You look like you’re going to be sick,” Yeonjun sounds concerned, leaning over his desk to look closely into his eyes from where the purple strands of hair fall upon them. 

“I’m okay, just…” Soobin just shakes his head, gathering his thoughts enough to piece up his last question. “What happens if the human mate turns into a vampire? Is that even possible?”

The question appears to cross an invisible line. It sends Yeonjun stumbling back, heaving his body back into his chair with his stunned eyes staring at Soobin. What strikes the younger vampire is not the abrupt reaction, but the flash of pain visible in Yeonjun’s eyes. 

Yeonjun, who is always so composed and confident about his work. Yeonjun who never flinches or shows any hint of pain even as he has a deep gash across his cheek. 

It’s the same Choi Yeonjun sitting on his chair right now, with the pain so raw in his eyes, it makes Soobin want to throw himself out of the window for asking the question. 

The elder should be the one who’s honoured to do that to him. Soobin won’t even mind. 

Instead, the vampire is just sitting there, smiling with an edge of sadness. 

“Would be nice if I have the answer to that, huh?”


	8. Chapter 8

Yeonjun was living a double life when he met his soulmate. 

_ Soulmate _ . That’s what they call humans with a connection to vampires at that time, even though technically vampires weren’t supposed to have a soul. That’s also the reason why Yeonjun wasn’t actively looking for his soulmate. It just sounded too pretentious to him, especially since their only purpose to his life was just to limit his appetite to feed.

He was quite content with his life in these peaceful centuries before the war first broke out in the country – being a recognized scholar who wrote literatures during the day and a monster who preyed upon innocent people during nightfall. He was even invited to the palace sometimes, with the privilege he had as one of the noblemen. 

In one of his visits, he saw that girl. Yi Seukhee. 

She was one of the court ladies who played the  _ jeongak gayageum _ during a pretentious visit. She had her attention only on the strings and the beautiful melodies it made. For the whole time, his eyes were focused on her, until they eyes met, and he knew that she was the  _ one _ . 

All his uncertainties about the bond dissipated into the air after that initial contact. 

“What if I tell you that the rumors about vampires are real, and that I’m one of them?” Yeonjun said, cutting straight to the chase as soon as he got her attention.

They were at the back of the palace where Yeonjun snuck into, catching her just in time before she followed the rest of the court ladies. There was an air of rush around him for that reason, but Seukhee carried a gentle and unhurried manner with her. A slow trickle of water down the river side, gentle summer breeze caressing your cheek. 

It was also obvious from the way she was not repulsed by the idea. 

“Then it’s safe to say that I’m in danger. Are you going to leave some blood for me to survive, at least?”

There was no fear in her eyes, nor was she weirded out by the stranger who suddenly interrupted her dull life in the palace. Present in her eyes, only a twinkle of amusement that was reduced into surprise when Yeonjun took her hand to give a kiss on the back of it. His pointy fangs peeking out from between his plush lips when he withdrew, catching her eyes again. 

“You’ll never be in danger as long as I live, my soulmate.”

Things fell into place rather smoothly after their first meeting. It might have something to do with the innate connections of their souls that drew them to each other, which was only intensified after his first time feeding on her, that connected them in a way that couldn’t be possible with just any other individual.

Another thing that supported their relationship was her openness towards the whole thing, something that women in that era was not really privileged to have. Especially not a mere court lady. 

He just didn’t know that the very same openness became his downfall the moment that cursed idea started developing in Seukhee’s mind. 

“Yeonjun-ssi. Please turn me into one of you,” she asked one night as they spent time away from the palace, hidden somewhere in the secluded corner of the village because court ladies were not supposed to have a life. Their lives were tied to the palace. 

But Seukhee was tied to Yeonjun. 

The request was alarming. It caused a frown to form on Yeonjun’s face, as his hand loosening from where he was holding hers warmly. “No. There’s no way I would let that happen.”

“It’s not enough, isn’t it? Sneaking around like this. You want me all to yourself.”

Sometimes she knew him more than he knew himself. It was the downside of the bond for the vampires. The human could read everything about him when his sole purpose was to protect her and make sure that she had everything she wanted.

“I can fight for you. Whatever you want, I’d give it to you—just not this, please.”

She smiled sadly at the rejection, shaking her head. “You don’t understand. I have to do  _ something _ . I can’t let you do my fights for me. Please give me the power to fight my way out of the palace and into your arms.”

She was smart and persuasive, and she was beautiful. Yeonjun just wished that he could see past her innocent eyes to catch her true intent.

Yeonjun wouldn’t have known that she would be known as the vampire who went feral and killed half the people in the palace in a single night. He wouldn’t know that the reason she wanted to turn was not because he wanted to stay with Yeonjun, but to have the power to take her revenge upon the palace. 

He wouldn’t have known that he would be the one who was held responsible for this and got trapped in silver chains by the other purebloods. The bloody state of his own body, chained into the rock back then as his former human soulmate went into another killing spree convinced him that he was going to be finished off by the other purebloods. Just because they had no power to take her down. 

A court lady with hidden grudges might not be dangerous, but once you gave her power, she became a threat to the whole nation.

“Say, Yeonjun. I can make an appeal to the other guys if you agreed to clean your own mess,” Choi Myungjoo was the one who came to him that night, standing tall before his kneeling figure and paid no mind to the way Yeonjun’s blood dripped through the cuts made by the chains tied to his hands, painting the rocks beneath in crimson shade. 

“Are you guys asking me because you can’t fight a little lady? Is that it?” he laughed derisively.

“You’re not in the position to mock us. The others have decided to execute you anyway. I just wanted to give you a second chance since I want you on my side when we create the council,” he said calmly, unfazed to Yeonjun’s provocation. “Can you do that? Prove your worth?”

It’s not like he had any other choice.

He wouldn’t have known that he had to be the one who did the damage control before any other vampire in the council could get to her. He wouldn’t have known when he fed his blood past his soulmate’s lips that night, it would be his way of saying goodbye. 

His last goodbye, however, lied on the tip of the silver stake he drove straight into her heart; that night he caught her just before she could make her way into the queen’s sleeping chamber.

“Are you here to kill me?” she asks the moment she caught his gaze, smiling with her face stained by splatters of blood of her victims.

“Is this what you wanted? All the innocent blood shed, just so you could get to her?” he asked, pain glinting in his eyes as he watched her face void of any guilt. 

“I would do the same thing all over again. Thank you for giving me the power, Choi Yeonjun-ssi,” she said through her wheezing.

He had created a monster.

“And now I have to take it away from you.”

“I can still feel you, though,” she said, choking on her own blood and wheezing. The crimson of her blood seeped past her blood stained hanbok, running down the stake and onto Yeonjun’s hand, just to drip down onto the floor. “You’re in love with me.”

She was still smiling even as the lights went out from her eyes, and she slowly disintegrated in his hands. Only the jagged silver dagger was left in the wake of the tragedy.

Whoever told him that finding your soulmate was the most beautiful thing a vampire could experience, Yeonjun called bullshit on that. There was nothing beautiful about holding the lifeless body of your soulmate in your hand, as you felt the soul left its vessel. There was nothing beautiful about feeling every ounce of pain she went through in those last few seconds before she exhaled her last breath. 

There was nothing beautiful about the vampire-human soulmate bond. It was a curse.

Or perhaps it has something to do with  _ newborns _ being a curse in general. Yeonjun can feel it deep inside his unbeating heart, the annoyance boiling in that dark place before distributed equally throughout his system every time he has to take care of a newborn vampire. He would kill these newborns himself if only he didn’t know that the stubborn ones would be the ones most likely to survive. 

The living proof is Soobin. He gave Yeonjun a good fight when he was first delivered to his footstep, but he’s lived the longest compared to other newborns he met. 

Vampires who are not born as one appears to die quicker; there’s no scientific explanation for it yet, unfortunately. 

This time, he’s bestowed with the epitome of stubbornness himself. The celebrity with blazing crimson hair and a pair of wide eyes that always scrutinize Yeonjun’s every move. 

“So, when are you going to sign my release paper?” there he goes again, asking him after staring at him with unblinking eyes for a little too long.

“You asked that ten minutes ago.”

“When are you going to sign my release paper?”

“Shut up, oh my god,” he groans, finally prying himself off his desk to face the newborn towering beside him. How a boy who’s lived on this earth for such short time could be this intimidating to him, it’s still a mystery. “Why do you want to leave so much? It’s easier to keep track on you when you’re within my range of supervision.”

“I have to do  _ something! _ ” 

Yeonjun bites his tongue hearing that, frozen on his spot as he stares up at the redhead. 

“Listen. I have works, okay? They can sue me if I don’t come up at the filming site. I don’t know how you’re supposed to supervise me, but you can come and see that I’m really not lying.”

“No…”

“What? You don’t understand, I—“

_ You don’t understand, Yeonjun-ssi. _

The more Taehyun talks, the more Yeonjun’s head is pulsing with the unwanted memories spilling from the depth of his mind. He ends up tuning the boy’s voice out from his senses, shoving him aside as he stumbles out from his chair.

“Where are you going? I’m not done speaking!” the newborn chases after him as he storms out from his office, all the way to the elevator. He’s all up in his space now, completely devoid of fear now that Yeonjun has stopped breaking his neck. “Are you going to sign?”

“Yes.”

“What does it take for you to—wait, what?” Taehyun stops in the middle of his complaints, lips falling shut the moment he registers the affirmation. 

So that’s what it takes to make the guy shut up. Yeonjun takes a note as he shoves Taehyun aside to step out from the elevator. He walks towards the room filled with more staff, unlike the upstairs area that’s only reserved for private offices, like his, or Soobin’s, who was lucky enough to get his own office through favouritism. 

_ His _ favouritism. 

“Oh, Choi Yeonjun’s leaving his office for once, huh? Here’s the list of new trainees you requested for tomorrow,” he’s stopped by one of the human desk officers as soon as he enters the area. 

“You can’t just email them to me?” he asks, taking the paper anyway. 

“I can, but maybe I need a reason to come to your private area, officer,” the guy throws him a flirty smile the moment he lifts his gaze from the paper. Yeonjun didn’t even remember his name, unfortunately, but he grins back nonetheless. 

“You’re welcomed to drop by anytime you want, cutie,” he replies with a wink, just before he continues the trip across the room. 

He mildly registers the sound of faked barf from behind him when they left the vast room, disappearing into a more secluded storage room. 

“What? Never seen anyone flirting before?” Yeonjun scoffs. “Kids are boring.”

“I’m not a kid,” the latter says defensively, though still following him like a lost sheep. “I had a fiancée, so I’m not like, new to it. She’s dead, though.”

_ I had a fiance. They took him away since I’m always meant to be owned by the palace anyway. _

“So what? You’re still a kid.”

“After spending time with you for longer than I needed— 

_ After watching you these past few months, _

“I’d like to think that I’m definitely more mature than you, Yeonjun-ssi.”

_ I’m definitely more mature than you, Yeonjun-ssi. _

“Shut up!” he snaps, shutting his eyes tightly to mute the overlapping voices from both Taehyun and the piece of memory inside his head. “Just. Shut up for a bit.”

Everything goes silent. He could hear the hitch of breath as he took the latter by surprise with his loud voice echoing through the cramped space. His fingers tremble as he lifts his hand, only to stop when he clenches his fist and bangs it to the surface of a locker. 

Once the voice in his head dies down, too, Yeonjun finally returns his gaze to the redhead who is staring at him with his eyes wide of shock. He does feel bad for Taehyun, for being the receiving end of his baseless anger, but he can’t do anything when the guy keeps on triggering pieces of memories in his head, inviting past memories about his mate. 

Fuck Soobin, for starting this. Or Beomgyu, that brat, for bringing it up in the first place. The next time he sees those two again, there’s going to be blood. 

“I’m sorry,” he lowers his voice, turning around to rummage through the lockers for the item he originally came here for. “I sign your leave permit, but you’re still under supervision, so if you had just one slip, we’ll be obligated to put you down. Understood?”

“Understood.”

“And you have to come whenever you’re being summoned. No bargain.”

“That’s unfair,” Taehyun says, a frown is visible even just through the tone of his voice. He shuts his mouth the moment Yeonjun directs his sharp feline eyes towards him. “Understood…”

As he located the item he needed, he takes a few quick steps towards the redhead, biting his lip to hold back a smile seeing how Taehyun backs up instantly. The impassive look stubbornly stays on his face, like he doesn’t want to be caught having a short moment of fear right there. It’s always fun to him, when the prey likes to act strong and unbothered.

“Don’t scream.”

“What—“

The little warning does nothing much. As Yeonjun positions the tool over Taehyun’s earlobe and let the needle sinks, a high-pitched yelp is ripped from his throat, muffled at the end by his hand slapping over Taehyun’s mouth. He sees a pair of teary eyes glaring at him when he removes the tool, exposing a small piercing in addition to the one Taehyun already had on his earlobe. 

“A tracker. Just so you won’t run away,” he says, thumbing gently over the small jewel adorning the soft ear. 

Taehyun jerks his head away from his touch before pushing him away completely. “Should’ve warned me better. I’m leaving now, where’s the signed paper?”

“There’s no paper, basically you just need my permission?” Yeonjun says with a nonchalant shrug.

The newborn gives him an incredulous look which he returns with a lazy smirk playing on his lips, then he flips him off before storming out of the storage room. 

As soon as he’s left alone, the smirk fades away from Yeonjun’s lips. His brows knitted in thought, recalling the flashbacks he keeps getting along with what Taehyun said to him earlier. Sure he was just thinking about Seukhee again after a long, long time refusing to bring the memory back. But it’s just too uncanny to be a coincidence.

He closes his eyes, recalling her last smile at him that night before he staked her. And then he thinks of the first time he met Taehyun properly, the hatred thrown his way. The two are so different, yet so familiar.

What’s the deal with Kang Taehyun?

==

“Choi Soobin, you are insane.”

That’s the first thing directed to him the moment he walks past the glass door into the lobby. He blinks a few times, lips pouted as he watches a certain blonde marching towards him. Only that Yeonjun is not stopping until they crashed, but Soobin is the only one sent to the floor on his butt upon the impact. 

“What’s that for?” he hisses. 

“That one is for a private, personal reason,” the elder says, making his jaws drop. “And then this one.”

He avoids the thick boot that’s aiming for his stomach just in time, rolling off to a side while throwing a scandalized look at his partner. “WHAT’S THAT FOR?” he screams this time, sputtering when a piece of paper lands on his face. 

There’s a table printed on it, containing a list of names and the information of the owner. He’s about to complain about how it’s unrelated to him when he spots a very familiar name printed over it. The blood runs cold in his face as he shuts his mouth instantly, almost robotically looking up at the other vampire then. 

“How does this concern me?” he asks, just to invite another kick which makes him scramble to his feet instantly, shoving the paper back to Yeonjun’s chest. “Stop that!”

“It’s literally written there!”

It is, proudly written there right next to Hueningkai’s name and under the ‘referral’ box: 

_ ‘Soobin hyung-nim >3<’ _

“That isn’t me,” he deadpans. 

“Yeah? Mind to explain the conversation you two had in his hospital room, then?” Yeonjun asks, arms folded across his chest. Soobin gives him a confused look for a few seconds before it finally dawns on him. Of course they wouldn’t just leave the kid alone without any supervision.

Some vampires do come back sometimes to finish off their prey in order not to leave a trace that leads back to them. Soobin just didn’t think it would apply to this situation since they have caught the vampire in question already. 

“It’s not illegal,” he tries to excuse himself, lowering his voice when someone walked past them. “He looks so determined, I thought he might start looking for a random vampire on his own in order to turn.”

“And that concerns you how?”

“That doesn’t worry you?” 

“Listen, I have enough on my plate now than to deal with a kid who’s joining this place just for an easy way to gain immortality,” he starts his lecture, and Soobin knows better than to interrupt when Yeonjun is talking with such fire in his eyes. He’s had enough experience of a bloody ending just for talking back to him. Lesson learned, Yeonjun would say. “Do you know what he said the first second he stepped into that training room? He asked me how long it would take until he can turn like Kang Taehyun.”

“Oh? That’s kinda cute,” he says mindlessly, earning him a smack on the back of his head. “What’s that for, now?”

“Enough. You’re gonna do the damage control later.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t usually do this, but once his initial training ends, you’re going to be the one who trains him in the field.”

Soobin frowns, pointing at himself. “Me? I’m not even certified as a trainer!”

“Congrats, now you are,” Yeonjun says nonchalantly, just before his eyes find his own in a sharp glare. “Also if Kang Taehyun ever finds out about this and relapse, his spilled blood will be on you.”

The blonde leaves after saying that, leaving behind only an eerie suspense that is hanging palpably in the air. Soobin’s eyes found the name on the paper that’s left on his hand, thinking about the model who looks too pure to be concerned with this world full of blood and merciless kills. 

It’s something to be thankful about, that the council officers are not recruiting people the way they did decades ago like how they did with Soobin. After they start accepting humans into working for them, they supervise the survival skill of these people. Most of the humans only work desk jobs in the office, but there are also some that were trained to do field job. 

Most of these humans would die first if they were to encounter abnormalities, but the ones who could prove their skill? They will receive an offer to turn. An offer for immortality in return for their loyalty to the council. 

That’s all he told Hueningkai back in the hospital room after he handed the card. He even explained the danger these human officers would face; how they would be more at risk of being targeted by both humans and vampires alike. He remembers the determined look in Kai’s eyes that day, aware that the warnings didn’t get through his head because it is clouded by the  _ promise _ .

Now he starts regretting his decision to share the information. Other than Taehyun, there will be someone else who’s going to dislike the idea. 

Soobin thinks about a flash of silver eyes, and a shudder runs through his spine. It’s not even because of fear, and that concerns him even more.

As he’s just about to take the elevator upstairs, his phone chimes with an upcoming email. It seems that Yeonjun is still pissed off at him for whatever personal private reason that he mentioned, because he got his job assignment without attending the weekly briefing. 

Daylight assignments. 

Choi Yeonjun is really determined to give him a taste of hell.

==

Beomgyu rarely spends his time at home. 

It brings too much memory of the first twenty years of his life, how he was raised up as a mortal, watching his vampire siblings look down on him. Ever since day one, he was deemed as an unnecessary addition to the family. After all, he’s born only because his father had just banished one of his elder kids. 

What kind of father would do that? You may wonder about that. The answer is: a father who holds too much power for his own good, with a bunch of problematic kids on the side. 

There are seven of them in total. Seven is the magic number. Beomgyu didn’t remember much about his two eldest siblings. They must have been centuries years old already, coming from much different time than he is. And the younger ones, they are straight up bullies. Perfect candidates for his father’s next wrath, if it’s not Beomgyu himself. 

Take, for example, Choi Jeongwoon. He’s just a little older than Beomgyu, but he has gained himself a list of fuck-ups created by the council officers. It starts from something as little as illegal feeding, to killing his human mate, and then a suspected case of blood slave. 

Keeping blood slaves is the lowest kind of crime a vampire could do. 

It’s a gradual process. A vampire would pick his target and feed from them regularly, until pleasure toxins from the bite infects their system. The targeted victim will be compelled to do whatever the vampire has to say once there is enough toxin in their blood. That way, it will be easy for the vampire to lure them into his lair and keep them for as long as he wants. Not all purebloods have the ability to use compulsions on humans, but this holds the same weight, if not worse.

It breaks a series of council laws at once: illegal feeding, taking blood against someone’s will, and human kidnapping.

As fucked up as Beomgyu might be to enjoy illegal and unpermitted feeding, he is still grossed out by the idea of holding a human captive to be used as a blood bag. 

Imagine how he feels, as he overhears a conversation about it the moment he enters his family house for the first time in forever. 

With his extraordinary hearing and focus, he just has to stay there in the living room unmoved to hear the conversations from the direction of the kitchen. 

“I promise this will be the last time. You know how hungry I get? I need  _ her _ ,” that’s Jeongwoon’s voice, whispering in a hushed yet urgent tone. “It hasn’t been the same ever since my mate died.”

“You shouldn’t have killed her, then. It works that way if you mess up with the magic,” comes his mother’s calm voice. 

“So please, mother, just stay out of this. Don’t tell father.”

“And if he finds out about it on his own? You’re not really in the safest spot here, son. I think you’re on the last strike already.”

“Choi Beomgyu is doing a better job at it lately. He keeps fucking up.”

“So it’s between you two,” her voice comes as a knife piercing Beomgyu’s chest. This is just how his mother is, absolutely no guilt when talking about her son’s death. Perhaps that’s to be expected with how many times his father has killed their children already. 

Pureblood children and their tendency to act up. 

“I promise I won’t get caught,” Jeongwoon pleads again, sounding desperate now. Beomgyu can hear a thud on the floor, knowing that he’s on his knees now. “Just don’t tell him. I’ll make sure that the brat is caught up in some serious shit first before I could.”

Beomgyu bites his lip at that. The threat hanging thickly in the air, almost tangible around his throat and threatening to choke him. He quietly walks out from the house, feeling the coldness stripped away from his body the moment he lets the scorching sun rays fall upon him. 

Sun might be uncomfortable, and it might put him in pain after a prolonged exposure. Beomgyu finds out that he’d rather be burned into ashes by the sun than to call this place his  _ home _ .

If Jeongwoonis going to make sure that he is going to be killed first, Beomgyu is just going to make sure that he will be caught for his illegal action. He just had to pull some strings to accomplish that purpose. 

==

“Nothing comes to mind?” 

The human girl in front of him ponders for a bit before finally shaking her head, an apologetic smile on her lips. “Yujung has always been the quiet one in the class, though I did think she was being a little weird the last few weeks. Then she suddenly stopped attending classes.”

“Oh? You sound like a nice and attentive friend, since you said that you weren’t that close with her,” he says with a sweet smile, watching as the girl preens under the praise, flipping her long hair over her shoulder. 

After listening to her doing most of the talking for the past hour of this interview, he has come to notice that the girl is the type who is weak towards praises. Soobin is not good at socializing, but over the past few decades of doing this, he has grown to learn the way to get the answers he needs. 

“Come to think of it. She has always been quiet, but she turned somewhat darker.”

That piques his interest. “How so?”

“It’s like she was blending into the background, not even answering anymore when anyone talks to her. I noticed it one time I asked her a question and she just stared at me coldly.”

“Coldly?”

“Hmm, maybe not cold. More like in daze? Like she’s not there as a whole. I got kinda pissed off since then, so I stopped talking to him. I wish I had…”

He tunes out the rest of her little monologue as he thinks it over. This is similar to what’s told to him by the last person he met who’s acquaintance with the first missing girl. A quiet girl who went even quieter for the past few weeks prior to their difference. Loss of focus. Being there but not really there. 

They are all connected with the first signs of someone losing their own free will when he or she is being compelled by a vampire. The first wrong step is to fall for the vampire’s charm, and then there’s no way back out of it the moment the vampire’s toxin gets into your bloodstream multiple times. 

A vampire is collecting his victims right under his nose. 

“Thank you, Minah-ssi. Can you call me if you recall something about Yujung? Anything small would help a lot, especially if it has something to do with her address or contacts,” he says once she stopped talking, sliding his business card across the table. 

That’s also the thing that bothers him the most, how the people around these girls do not seem to recall their contact information. Nobody is contacting the girls anymore, and Soobin is not sure if it’s because the girls are slowly withdrawing themselves from the society or the vampire in question is actively covering his track. 

The latter option is the most dangerous. 

“I would totally call you for other purposes. Too bad I have a boyfriend,” she sighs, then throws him another smile before picking her bag up and leaves. 

Soobin keeps his lips stretched in a smile until the door to the café dings close. It’s always his thing to do this kind of interview in the most casual way possible. It’s just one of the advantages of being the vampire council officer instead of a human cop, since he doesn’t have to go through unnecessary protocols and rules just to get information. Not even uniform is required. 

Now, onto transcribing the recordings. Just more unpaid overtime for a sleep deprived vampire. No big deal. 

As he steps out from the café, his attention is stolen by a blinking light from a car parked on the street not far from the café. He could recognize the car anywhere, and especially the guy who is sitting behind the wheel. It’s a wonder how he didn’t notice him earlier. 

“Why are you so obsessed with me?” he asks as he invites himself into the passenger seat. A smile tugging his lips remembering how the line was said by none other than the vampire next to him. 

“I got bored and started looking for you. Luckily, Yeonjun told me you’d be here today,” he says, gesturing at the campus building nearby. “You look so much like a college student.”

“Thank you. Good thing nobody figured out I’m already ancient.”

The two end up sharing the rest of the macaroons from the box Soobin bought back at the café (they looked cute, that’s the only reason). The sugar melts on Soobin’s tongue, but it barely stings him with any sweetness, much unlike the time he was human. Perhaps that’s the only thing he missed from being human, other than the ability to die naturally.

Beomgyu sniffs on his piece of blue coloured sweets before taking a tiny bite of it, as if he could actually taste the food. Somehow he finds it not repulsive and pushes the small assortment past his lips. A smile unconsciously drawn on his lips once the sugar melts in his mouth. 

The elder one who watched the whole thing is hiding his laugh behind the back of his palm, which earns him a sharp glare.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s just… adorable. You’re so excited while we’re just eating macaroons.”

The comment earns him a smack on his thigh, just before Beomgyu takes the other piece of the macaroons and pops it right into his mouth. He seems to be enjoying it for someone who doesn’t have a full access to their taste buds.

“It’s cause I have never tried it before, okay? My biggest regret in life is turning before I could taste all the food in the world.”

“Macaroons are not even a rare food…”

“I was a picky eater. Problem with you?” Beomgyu throws him another glare, only to be shut up as Soobin shoves the last piece of macaroons into his mouth. There’s a grumbled protest from the latter, which is swallowed into nothing as the male starts enjoying the melting sensation on his tongue again. That’s so easy.

Nothing strange in this car. Only a couple of immortal beings, behaving like humans and consuming human food that they can’t even taste properly. 

The thought makes Soobin smile in amusement. His eyes found the other again, catching the sprinkles of sugary stain on a corner of Beomgyu’s lips while he’s still busy savouring the dessert. He didn’t think much when he reaches out to brush it away with his thumb, cupping his cheek and making him look his way to make it easier for him to clean.

It’s his fault, that he didn’t catch the look in Beomgyu’s eyes when he looks up at him with a pair of round eyes, totally fixated on his parted lips.

Until they move as he speaks. 

“I miss you.”

Soobin stops as he caught that, not daring to question it in case he misheard it. But even without hearing the words, he could see it from the way Beomgyu looks at him. 

Only now does he actually take a look at Beomgyu. The vampire looks like he hasn’t got any sleep in days. Lines of exhaustion reflected in his eyes, despite the natural beauty of a vampire he possessed. But he also sees it, the way Beomgyu’s eyes round up as he looks at him, making him look almost like a harmless baby bear. The solemn look he has associated with the guy. 

It’s the same look given to him in this very same car, back when Beomgyu confessed to him.

It’s been haunting him. The confession, the feeling of Beomgyu’s heart beating against his hand that one time, the discussion about his soulmate he had with Yeonjun. Soobin’s head is too occupied by his works to be worrying about this. 

“Beomgyu,” he calls out. “I’ve been thinking about what you said last time.”

Despite not addressing the actual topic, Beomgyu seems to catch it. Panic crosses his eyes before he sputters out, shoving Soobin’s hand away so he can turn to look at the front again. “I told you that you don’t have to say anything about it!”

“I don’t think you’re actually in love with me,” he says quickly before he can chicken out again, totally regretting it when he sees the light in the vampire’s eyes dimmed, turning into its dark cold state. “Listen, you’re still conflicted about the whole thing and bothered by your hunger, so you can’t think clearly. But I have this little theory—“

“Soobin, just, shut up,” Beomgyu cuts him. He is already looking away from him, eyes staring straight to the road in front of them while his fingers are gripping the wheel tightly. “I told you, you don’t have to say anything. I told you not because I expected you to have the same feeling.”

“It’s not that…”  _ it’s not that I don’t have the same feeling. _ He bites his lip, unable to voice out the words that are dying to break free from his throat. 

But Beomgyu has put up his walls again, blocking him out when he starts driving. They ride in silence, even until they reach the council building where Beomgyu kindly drops him at. The vampire is not even looking at him when he exits the car and bends down to thank him, not even a glance. And only as Soobin walks into the place, alone in the empty corridor with only his thoughts accompanying him, that he comes up with another contemplation.

How is he going to be sure that his own feeling is not caused by his suspicion that they might be soulmates?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now that i've finished writing the main drafts for the whole thing i'm going to start updating this fic once a week aaaa sorry for the long wait and/or for the interest, still. it might have looked like i was abandoning it :(
> 
> also the details of the historical parts of this fic (yeonjun's past) are really off since i don't usually watch/read historical stuff aaaa it would be a great help if you want to educate me about it or,,, excuse inaccuracies ajdsk


	9. Chapter 9

Hueningkai grew up surrounded by love and affections. He is privileged in that way. 

Everywhere he goes, he is always deemed worthy to receive love, and he’s not complaining, since he likes being adored. But he didn’t know _love_ until he met Kang Taehyun and his blunt tongue.

It was the first day of middle school. Kai introduced himself to everyone in the class and naturally, they fell in love with him. Everyone did, until he got to the quiet kid who piqued his interest because of his tacit stares. 

“Do you always smile like that to everyone?” That was Taehyun’s reply to his introduction. Eyes scanning him from head to toe. It was intimidating, especially since Kai was smaller than everyone else. “It makes you look like an idiot. I don’t like it.”

He should’ve been offended. Should’ve taken it into heart dropped this attempted friendship with one mean classmate. Instead, he found himself smiling in the exact same way.

“Then, I’ll only smile like this for you, until you tell me that you like it.”

They became inseparable since then, mainly because Kai followed the other like a puppy. It was love in the purest kind for him; one that was planted by the challenge to _earn_ it. Even as it was a hopeless love, it was not like he expected something in return to begin with. It was hopeless because Taehyun had a fiancée, had always been since they were kids. She was very nice to Kai and she had a nice smile, so Kai didn’t hate this reality. After all, they had a promise. 

It’s just like the promise he made on a whim when he saw Taehyun cry for the first time. The first time Kai saw the vulnerable side Taehyun never showed anyone, not even Hyejoo. It was the night his parents finalized their divorce, and the two of them hid under Taehyun’s bed. Kai was already taller by this time. His feet sticking out from under the bed.

“Everyone leaves in the end, right? All our classmates will, too. Even if we tell each other that we will be friends forever,” he said, staring at the darkness of the bottom of his bed.

“Not me,” Kai chimed, earning an intrigued look from the latter who finally met his gaze. Unlike Taehyun, he had always been staring at his friend’s side profile the whole time they had this talk. “I will stay by your side forever, just like how I’ve been following you. Promise.”

The pensive look in his eyes eventually made Taehyun scoff, eyes filled with amusement. “Even Hyejoo never promised me that.”

“You don’t trust me?” Kai exaggerates an incredulous gasp, eliciting a small laughter tumbling from Taehyun’s lips. The second promise he made to himself that night is that he will do anything to be the one who makes the latter smile like this. 

He kept his promise when his dad asked him what he wanted to do after graduating high school. There’s a weight of expectations on his shoulders to enrol in medical school since the rest of his family works in the medical field. But at that time, Taehyun already got a role for a TV drama, which easily brought the guy back into the entertainment world where he belonged.

“I want to be a model,” he said in a spur of a moment. Because that way, he could at least stay close to Taehyun without forcing himself to be something he couldn’t.

He kept his promise when he didn’t give up on Taehyun even when the guy cut him off completely for months. The initial assumption was that the actor was recovering from guilt, but it was debunked that night as Taehyun bit him, sending him on the verge of passing out from blood loss. 

Even then, he kept his promise.

And now, he is on his road to keep his promise yet again, as he puts on the white uniform that made him officially a part of the council officer. It looks good on him, he might as well just go to another photoshoot instead of out on the dangerous night street. 

Not like he’s allowed to.

“You’re aware that you’re supposed to start with a desk job, right? Does this look like an action movie to you?” his trainer, Choi Yeonjun, spat when he mentioned going to the field. 

The thing is. He’s not going to reach his goal as fast as he wishes if he wastes his time with desk jobs. 

“You released me from physical training quicker than anyone else, so that must mean something,” he says, trying not to flinch from the glare sent by the blonde so he can keep going. “I think you realized that I’ve got all the basic, and I’m worth more than just to be put behind the desk.”

Yeonjun ignores his attempt in reasoning, leaving the training room with Kai on his tail. “Do you also think that taking down vampires is as easy as taking down humans?”

“Taking down humans is not easy!” He says a little too gleefully, falling into step with the vampire so he can make an eye contact. “Besides, human officers are usually partnered with vampires, right? I just need the experience. How can I actually learn anything from just theories?”

The thing about Choi Yeonjun is, despite his apparent dislike for Kai, his decision is always made objectively. It was already proven the moment he saw Kai’s martial arts skill and let him pass the first exam instead of kicking him out like he wanted to since the very beginning. Kai can see it in his eyes too; thoughts swimming in the pair before he finally caught his gaze again. 

“If you can land a touch on my waist, maybe I’ll arrange something for you.”

That makes Kai blink a few times in confusion, not quite understanding the mission until the vampire bolts off down the corridor. Then it clicks in his head. 

They’re playing tag; _how fun_. 

A smile blooms across his lips as he takes off after Yeonjun, easily sighting the blonde even from afar with how bright his hair is. They manoeuvred past the desks and innocent people working around them, exiting through the emergency staircase and letting the alarms blare through the building. 

Yeonjun is a beast, and even without his enhanced vampire ability, it will be hard to catch the guy with how passionate he is about this race. The only reason he could catch up is when the elder lagged the moment they reached the lobby, just for a split second, but that’s enough for Kai to catch up to him. 

“Hold on—“ the vampire tries to say something, but Kai tackles him to the floor, determined not to go for another round of chase. 

“I caught you!” he cheers, a hand comes down to rub Yeonjun’s tummy through his black knitted sweater. “Oh, it’s soft—whatever, I won anyway…” he trails off only when he notices that Yeonjun is distracted by something else. 

When he lifts up his head, the answer comes to him in a flash of crimson hair and a surprised look in a pair of eyes he missed the most. 

“Kai, why are you here?” Taehyun is the first one who breaks the silence, but the stunned moment is broken when Yeonjun shoves him off. 

The blonde gets to his feet quickly, scribbling down something on the back of a small card before throwing it to Kai. “Don’t say a word. Just contact him and he’ll know what to do,” he says. The finality in his voice lets the human know better than to speak against it. 

He can only sit there in the middle of the lobby, watching as Yeonjun grabs Taehyun’s hand and drags the redhead away. The last thing he caught from Taehyun is his curious eyes peeking towards him before the elevator door closed between them. 

Only now does he realize how much he missed Kang Taehyun, and how much he actually hates the vampires for taking his best friend away from him. 

==

Yeonjun has always been merciless towards him, but this time, Soobin would rather sit down and listen to the elder nagging instead of receiving this kind of punishment. 

After a full week of investigating the matter and interviewing humans during daylight when he’s supposed to be released from work, Yeonjun finally sent him someone to help, and that someone turned out to be a rookie who he doesn’t want to associate with. 

The silver lining is that he could rest his eyes for a bit. 

Vampires do not need that much rest or sleep, but it does take a toll on them eventually, and there is no telling when the right time is since they don’t have a biological clock system like mortals. Soobin only knows that it’s the time because he dozes off right when he hits the chair in his office. 

When he wakes up, it’s because he mildly detects the presence of someone else in the office with him. 

It should be alarming, if only it’s not for the smell of lavender coming from the fabric pressed against his nose and soft fingers tracing along his hair. It feels too comfortable that he’s lulled right back to sleep. 

Eventually, it _is_ alarming, when he gets past the cloudy state of this fake sense of comfort and will his brain to think. Someone is with him in his office and that person is touching his hair. It stirs him out of slumber. His movement is still sluggish as he pries himself off the hold and tips his head up to catch a pair of solemn eyes staring down at him. 

He blinks slowly, eyelashes fluttering as his eyes starting to focus on the figure intruding his safe space. The moment he registers the face in his brain, he pulls away so quickly his head goes lightheaded for a few seconds. The chair rolls back and almost falls backward if only it’s not for the wall cushioning the impact. 

“What the fuck?” he hisses, eyes wide and glaring at Beomgyu who’s kicking his legs out playfully. The vampire is seated casually on the edge of his desk, and apparently he was making him as his pillow earlier, which made his face burn at the realization. “Why are you here?”

“Should you speak like that to me when you were so cuddly earlier?” he teases.

Soobin groans, covering his face with his palms for a moment, while also to massage his eyes a little to get rid of any trace of dreamland. When he drops his hands, he gives the other vampire a tired look.

“What is it this time?”

Beomgyu tilts his head to a side. “What do you mean what is it?”

“Every time we meet, there’s a problem arising.”

“Well… true, but can’t I just come if I want to see you?”

”If you just want to _see_ me, you wouldn’t come here. You know where to find me,” he says, remembering the day Beomgyu turned up at the orphanage, and then nothing. 

A wave of irritation fills his chest at the thought, only to be diminished quickly when he realized it. He shouldn’t feel so bothered that Beomgyu is not visiting him outside of work anymore. After all, there is nothing between them. Just a lot of unanswered questions and a forgotten confession. 

A guilty smile drawn upon Beomgyu’s lips just prove his point. 

“Okay, I’m actually trying to dig some trash on Choi Jeongwoon,” he says.

“You want me to give you a list of charges we have for him? Most of them are dropped because of your father, though…”

“No! I don’t care about that,” he sounds too fired up just for a case, now that Soobin looks at him. There are lines of worries poorly hidden in his face. The exhaustion in his face also mirrors Soobin’s. “I overheard something about blood slave and… look, I know it’s none of my business, but I’m just, scared. He’s waiting for me to fuck up again so it will be the last strike. I need to find out first if he’s doing something illegal.”

“You won’t fuck up again…”

“You don’t understand, Soobin. I’m a time bomb,” he says, punctuated by a soft laughter with a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Since I’m not finding my mate anytime soon, I need to feed more and more, and soon you’ll find me in the same situation as last time. Taehyun’s not even an excuse anymore.”

All the workloads in his tab made Soobin forget about the matters about mate. Or _soulmate_ , as Yeonjun would call it. He has this suspicion that that’s bugging him, but it doesn’t seem like he could voice it anytime soon if Beomgyu is still looking this distraught. 

Exhaling a deep breath, he gets up on his feet, making Beomgyu the one who looks up at him now. His eyes shut momentarily as Soobin reached out to pet his hair. “You won’t lose it. I trust you,” he says. “You’re like, a little crazy, but not that much.”

That earns him a tinkling laughter and a soft punch on his chest. 

“Asshole.”

“Actually, my assigned case is tracking down missing girls, so I’m wondering if it could be related to—“

Just as he’s about to get serious talking about the correlations between their current worries, his door swung open from outside. He didn’t react quick enough to stop the intruder from coming in. 

“Soobin hyung, I got the transcription done, so—“

It’s Hueningkai, happily bounces into the office without knocking. Only this time, Beomgyu’s surprised eyes greeted him instead. 

“Kai? What are you doing here?” his voice blares across the room.

The human shrinks backwards. “Uhm, I’ll just… come back later?” he says meekly, meeting Soobin’s eyes as the vampire urged him with his chin to leave quickly. He shuts the door loudly just in time as Beomgyu jumps over the table to bolt towards his direction.

“HUENINGKAI!” 

Bless his longer legs, Soobin caught up to him quickly, pushing his hands against the door before Beomgyu could open it again. The vampire turns around to face him, his eyes shooting pure anger at Soobin’s face, enough to instil fear in his chest from the intensity behind the glaring silver eyes.

“It’s you, isn’t it? Fuck. I should’ve known when he told me he spoke to you,” he hisses, fingers clawing onto his shirt before grabbing the front roughly. “Why did you have to involve him?”

“It’s not…” he doesn’t even know what kind of excuse he was about to spew. His tongue feels heavy in his mouth, even more as he watches the anger in Beomgyu’s expression morphs into a frustrated one. It would be more bearable if the vampire just lashed out on him. 

“You know what? Everything only went messy ever since I met you. If only you weren’t so nosy that night you caught me, and that second night. If only I didn’t come with you—“

“You didn’t even have to come with me!”

“BUT I WANTED TO,” Beomgyu shouts at him, making him shut up at once. “That’s why I hated myself for that. The incident with Taehyun only happened because I wanted to go with you. If only I never met you in the first place… If only I wasn’t so…”

He trails off mid-sentence, the adrenaline seems to seep away from his system, now leaving him in what seems like the most broken Soobin has ever seen him. The intimidating air dissipated from around him, replaced by something that makes Soobin want to reach out and pull the younger into his arms. 

Beomgyu flinches when Soobin’s hand comes near him, snapping his gaze up again. The fire of anger was back in his eyes like it never left. “And now you dare to involve Kai?”

“I’m sorry.”

“If something happens to him, I’ll never forgive you, Choi Soobin. I’ll be the one to end your life.”

The resentment is palpable in the air between them. So thick that Soobin could probably feel it if he reached his hand out. But he can’t move an inch, not even when Beomgyu shoves him away and marches out of the room. Not when the door slowly closes, leaving him alone in the eerie silence of the room. 

The room that formerly felt so bright, filled with Beomgyu’s tinkling laughter. 

It shouldn’t be something new, that Beomgyu would hate him ever since the first time they met. It’s just that hearing it voiced by his own lips made it real, materializing it into a solid brick wall that stands tall between them. 

One of the bricks ends up inside his chest, lodged in the socket uncomfortably against his unbeating heart. 

In contrast to the beat of Beomgyu’s heart that he felt last time, he felt like his heart just got ripped out of its socket. More dead than ever.

==

Ever since Taehyun came back to work, he has to make up for a lot of things. 

Firstly, there were the cancelled gigs and ads shooting, accusations for breach of contract that he had to deal with by faking a sick leave. And then he’s being dragged by his manager to apologize. It’s only because of the agency’s connection that he could keep the jobs. The downside is that he is back at rookie level jobs. Nobody trusts a bailer until he proves his worth once again. 

“Oh, you’re back to working with rookies now, huh?” he is greeted by Hueningkai’s voice the second he enters the waiting room. “Beomgyu hyung and I thought that we’d never get to work with you.”

The redhead stays stunned by the doorway, watching the smile spread over Kai’s lips. 

Only when the taller male stands up does he snap back into his senses, blocking his way before he could walk out from the room. “We need to talk.”

“Huh? I just got called for the individual shot, though,” Kai gestures to the studio where people are looking for him already, a trace of guilt in his smile as he waves goodbye at Taehyun before slipping past him. 

Kai never refused to talk to him before. No matter what’s happening, the guy always makes sure to prioritize Taehyun first. Perhaps he’s gotten too used to it that it hurts now watching his best friend walk away from him. 

It’s funny, how he has the audacity to feel hurt over that when he’s the one who lets the guy stick around him with an obvious crush. It also makes him a hypocrite, how he judged Beomgyu for being selfish when he wanted to keep Taehyun alive, but he’s also selfish for taking advantage of Kai’s devotion towards him. 

It takes hours before Taehyun could make another attempt. 

The photoshoot is for a less known brand’s feature on this unknown magazine, yet it takes a while. But he’s a professional, and he gets praised for a change of vibe for his visual ever since he turned into a vampire. 

Now he understands why Beomgyu is adored by many people in an intimidating kind of way. 

As soon as the end of the session is announced, Taehyun is not hesitating to grab Kai’s hand and drags him away from the eyes of others. He locks the two inside the cramped waiting room, leaning against the door to block the only way out. 

“Explain,” he demands. 

Kai blinks at him, tilting his head to a side. “Which part?”

“Everything! Why were you at the vampire building? And with Yeonjun? What business could you have with him?” 

“Isn’t it obvious? I was there for you.”

“You can’t just insert yourself into the vampire’s lair, and it’s not like working with Yeonjun would make us together,” he says more to himself as a part of his deduction. A frown drawn on his visage as he tries to figure out the oddity in Kai’s excuse. It doesn’t help that the guy has that guilty smile on his face again. 

Something _really_ wrong is happening, and he has to find out what it is.

“Really. You know I want to be anywhere you go!” Kai nods, trying to make himself sound convincing.

The thing is, Kai is not a good actor. That is the only reason why he didn’t sign himself into the acting department of the agency, but to the modelling side instead. Taehyun could always see whenever he’s lying. Why is he even trying anymore?

He growls softly deep in his chest to build up an intimidation, slowly cornering the other guy backwards until he almost tripped by his own legs. Kai ends up sitting on one of the dressing chairs, making it a perfect trap when Taehyun puts his hands on both arms and glares down at the poor guy.

“You’re hiding something. What is it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“Huening Kai,” he says sternly, locking their gazes in a silent battle until Kai shrinks back into his chair, defeated. 

He brings his hands up to cover his face briefly, sighing as he peeks through his fingers. “I only joined because that’s the only way I could be like you, okay? That’s the only way we can be together.”

“What do you mean?” he frowns. 

There is a feeling of foreboding swimming in the air between them. One that feels awfully like when Kai decided to stay back from their study trip just because Taehyun didn’t want to ride the airplane. The same kind that reminds him of when Kai cancelled his application to medical school to follow his path. It swirls inside his stomach in a murky shadow, making him feel sick even before the confirmation slips past Kai’s pretty mouth. 

“I want to be a vampire, too.”

That punches Taehyun right on his lungs, making it hard for him to breathe without the sharp pain that comes with it. His nails dig into the arms of the chairs, threatening to rip them apart. 

In his vision right now, the one who’s sitting there is not his best friend who’s looking at him with determined eyes. It’s Hueningkai who’s curled up on the floor with fire in his veins after receiving the vampire’s blood that will turn him. It’s Hueningkai who will be hurt every time he has to feed from humans, because the guy can’t even hurt a fly.

It’s Hueningkai, who’s always following him blindly, and now steering himself into the path of destruction because of Taehyun. 

“Huening—“he tries to speak, gasping for air as soon as the word leaves his lips. “Just. Stop. Can you just stop, _please_?”

“Taehyunnie…”

“Just stop following me. Please just live your life, please? I can’t have you involved in this too,” the words stream out of him rapidly now, as he’s on the verge of panic. But even then he already knows that there is no changing Kai’s mind once he sets his goal. He can see it in Kai’s eyes, staring at him with the determined, stubborn shine. 

“But I want to,” he states with finality in his voice. “I promised that I want to be with you. You were the one who asked me to stay.”

“No… not like this—“

“Did you know how it felt when I heard about the accident? My world crumbled down just thinking about losing you,” Kai’s expression suddenly falls into a heart-wrenching one, filled with a kind of pain Taehyun has never seen on his face. It looks so out of place. Taehyun wants to wipe it away. “So please, just let me stay close. That’s the only thing I’m asking from you.”

Before he could come up with something to dissuade the other male, he hears a rap of fist knocking the door, followed by a voice of Kai’s manager. He feels a hand on top of his, thumb rubbing reassuringly along the back of his palm. Usually it would calm him down, but right now, it has a reverse effect as he is driven closer to losing his mind.

“Just trust me, okay, Hyunnie? I will never let you down.”

His brain has shut down at this point, swimming in a thick liquid as he steps back to make a way for Kai to go. 

He stays alone in the middle of the room for what feels like ages. His eyes staring at the mirror across him, watching as his impassive face slowly morphs into one of a monster. First, it’s his eyes, blazing in crimson fire. And then he feels the pressure on his gums, a warning of impending danger. 

There are too many people here. He could hear the chatters from outside the room, the shuffles of feet from a few rooms away. He could hear his manager entering the room, clueless to the state of his headspace as he starts nagging about the lost opportunities and how they have to do some rookie jobs. 

The darkness is taking over his mind again, threatening to strip himself off the control he’s built for so long. The waves of fire filling his veins feels so much like that night he attacked Kai, but this time it’s worse, since it’s fuelled by his manager’s nagging in the background. 

As the male reached out to get his attention, he snapped.

“Taehyun—“

Before he could say any other word, Taehyun grabs his hand, pulling him with all his strength. He didn’t know what he was aiming for, but the next thing he knows is the loud sound of a mirror breaking into pieces as the male’s body hits it, before he’s sprawled on the floor, unconscious, with blood painting the floor. 

Taehyun is still seeing red, but as he hears footsteps coming towards them, he goes for the door to lock it, slamming his back against it and stares at the scene with his eyes wide in shock. The stench of blood fills the room, making his stomach churn with a newfound hunger. He can feel the fangs pressing against his bottom lip, too.

Slowly, and surely, he’s losing his control. The last thing he hears is Yeonjun’s voice in the back of his mind. _One victim, and I will drive this stake straight into your heart._

And then he lost the battle.

==

Yeonjun has worked in this field since it was invented by the council, yet he still hasn’t got used to his private time being bothered by emergency calls. 

Especially during the daylight, as he’s usually sprawled on his bed on his stomach, shirtless and totally out for the rest of the day. He’s sure that he only got five minutes of sleep when his phone starts to ring. 

It’s alarming, because his phone is only set to ring when there is an emergency call. 

It’s even more alarming to see that it is a call from Taehyun, who sounds like he is going through a breakdown when he picks it up. As he hurries his way towards the location he’s tracking down from the newborn’s tracker, he wonders whether the dread he feels in his chest comes from his worry over a possible victim or the possibility of him having to use his silver stake once he arrives. 

The moment he entered the dressing room of that photoshoot studio, he couldn’t find Taehyun. That is, until he spots the redhead cowering under one of the tables, hugging his knees to his chest. 

He ignores him for a moment as he checks the bleeding male with glasses scattered around him, checking his pulse, and sighing in relief when he can call a medic team on him. Then his attention is directed to the vampire who is now eyeing him, jumping a little on his spot when his gaze caught Yeonjun’s. 

“Are you here to kill me?” Taehyun asks, eyes unshaken as he looks up at him.

That again. The familiarity of the situation. A grim room marked with innocent blood and a newborn. 

The flash of crimson peeking at him from between shaky fingers is the first thing he noticed. His eyes are still showing his feral side even after this long, yet he is struggling so much to keep it down that Yeonjun can see the burning colour flicker back into its deep black shade. It’s pathetic, yet also tells him just how hard Taehyun is struggling against his vampire urges now, even with only half a humane mind.

“Did you take his blood?” Yeonjun asks, gesturing towards the limp body with a nudge of his head to the direction. 

“No. I want to, though. Want it so bad,” Taehyun says. 

Only now does Yeonjun notice the hint of tearing on Taehyun’s bottom lip from excessive biting and the track of drool down to his chin. The scent of blood must have tempted him so much, and being trapped with it during the time it takes for Yeonjun to get there? It’s amazing for a newborn like Taehyun. 

He also notices that Taehyun is shaking subtly, probably still holding back his urges. 

Taking a deep breath, Yeonjun gets onto his feet. “Unleash it then. It’s okay.” He says, only to be met with Taehyun’s incredulous eyes, looking at him like he’s gone mad.

He rolls his eyes. “Better be quick before the medics come to collect the dude. You want to be caught with your eyes looking like that? Imagine if one of them would tip the press.”

They are engaged in an intense eye contact for a moment, before Taehyun’s eyes suddenly blaze the same red colour as his hair. Yeonjun barely reacts in time to catch the guy as he leaps out of his hiding place, holding an arm out as a shield from the gnashing teeth. 

Taehyun is snarling like some feral newborn, catching Yeonjun on the forearm by his teeth. The pureblood uses it as a leverage to push the smaller vampire against the wall, pinning his head to a wall with his arm stuffed between his teeth, sharp points sinking into his skin and drawing blood that drips down to the floor. 

“Little newborn. All of you are just the same, huh,” he sneers, returned by a wild glare as Taehyun tries to struggle against him, to no avail. He bangs the younger’s head against the wall once again to shut him up, rendering him motionless as he brings his face closer for more intimidation value. “Get yourself together. I don’t know why you’re relapsing, but we’re going to find out, okay?” he’s growling, but his voice softens towards the end, coaxing. “We are going to make it alright again.”

There’s a light of recognition in Taehyun’s eyes at that. The pair round up as they peer at Yeonjun helplessly. It paints a funny, yet adorable image. A helpless vampire on the verge of going feral, pleading with his wild eyes. 

Yeonjun drops his hand only as the fight leaves Taehyun’s body completely, and the red light goes off in his eyes. He just looks exhausted now, not even interested to lap off the blood dripping from the gaping wounds on Yeonjun’s arm before they stitch themselves back shut. 

“Hueningkai…” Taehyun whispers. “I think he’s going to die for me.”

That’s enough explanation. 

Choi Soobin and the problems he brought by introducing that little human into their world. On the other hand, it also gives him enough proof that maybe Kang Taehyun has exceeded all his expectations on newborns just by getting through this alive. 

Sighing, he brings his hand up to pet Taehyun’s hair gently, ignoring the way those pair of round eyes eyeing him with confusion. 

“You’ve done well.”

Maybe Kang Taehyun is more than just a mere, little newborn in need of saving.


	10. Chapter 10

Sometimes being outside during daylight has its perks. 

Take today, for example. The sun is only peeking politely from behind the clouds, so it’s only shining mildly upon their heads. It's a perfect weather for Soobin to continue his investigation. Alongside the new human officer who’s giving him a constant headache, they walk down to the neighbourhood where the cases were suspected to be centered in. 

It has been weeks of investigating with constant dead-end. These missing people are not ones who are known to many people, always keeping low profiles to the surrounding and existing just enough to survive. It’s also made worse by the missing footage from the places the victims were last sighted. It’s either the crimes are so perfectly planned or the perpetrator has so much luck on his side. 

“You look tired. Why don’t you take a short rest while I do this one interview?” Kai asks, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet. 

Daylight assignments are really more suitable for human officers. Choi Yeonjun is so wrong for giving this as a punishment. Twice. 

He gives Kai a look. “I’m supposed to be supervising you.”

“Haven’t you watched me asking enough questions? No offense, hyung, but I’m kinda better than you at this!” he replies cheerfully. 

As much as he wants to take offense, it just doesn’t feel right when Kai is smiling like this. That’s his best weapon, the fact that his soul radiates kindness and purity. No one would want to hurt him, yet he can also use this to his advantage. 

That’s how dangerous Hueningkai is. 

He ends up sitting on a park bench under a tree while sucking on a popsicle, just for the icy sensation on his tongue. It is right across the convenience store where Kai is trying to dig information from the owner, so he can still watch the rookie while catching some time to himself. The ice cream is just a bonus. 

Another bonus is a series of footsteps running towards him, punctuated by a foot stomping on the ground when the figure stops right in front of him. 

“Stop stalking me!”

The sun is getting brighter with the clouds parting from blocking its way. As Soobin looks up, he squints his eyes because of the light that hits his eyes from behind the shadowy figure. It takes him a moment to register the pair of silver eyes glaring at him. 

“What…” he mumbles, blinking a few times to focus his gaze on a very angry, small vampire.

“Are you going to arrest me again? It’s not illegal to walk around the street in the daylight, even if the street is prone to vampire attacks and kidnappings,” the guy starts nagging then, a realization comes upon him as soon as the words slip past his lips. “Which are not my doing, by the way.”

Sighing, Soobin just tugs Beomgyu’s hand to make the male stumble forward, pushing the popsicle right between the parted lips that were about to spew some more gibberish. 

“If I thought that it was you, I’d come for your ass way sooner,” he says. “Too bad, huh? It’d make my job easier if it were you.”

Beomgyu makes a little disgruntled noise, but doesn’t push further as he ends up enjoying the ice cream. He’s so easy to distract, it’s adorable. 

“Last time we met, you made it sound like you’d never see me again,” Soobin says, still keeping his eyes trained up at the other vampire who’s lost in his own little world. 

That got his attention. “I’m still mad at you, but at the same time, kind of want to use your connection as an officer so I can trap the guy first. We’re looking into the same case anyway.”

“How can you be so sure that it’s the same case? And that your brother is the culprit?”

“I told you I overheard him! How is that not enough as a proof?”

“It doesn’t weigh anything for the council, especially if your father decided to take his side. The whole case would be swept under the rug just like your case.”

“ _My_ case?” Beomgyu’s voice rose at that. “You’re saying that what I did was as bad as what that piece of shit might be doing?”

“You did murder people, Beomgyu…”

“And I’m not charged for them.”

“That’s what's going to happen to your brother if we’re doing this in your way!” 

At this point, Soobin starts wondering why they are arguing under the daylight, with Beomgyu’s hand clutching on a popsicle stick and his eyes alight with anger over something that he shouldn’t even be concerned with. The popsicle melting and dripping sweet liquid onto his hand.

“How could you be this much of a hypocrite? Last time you broke my neck because you thought I was some kind of feral newborn, and now you don’t want to accuse someone without any proof?” Beomgyu is exploding right now, and Soobin can see this ends with the guy storming away from him already. He’s learned that it’d be futile to try arguing with the guy when he’s worked up. 

As he tries to tune out the argument, he spots Kai getting out from the convenience store, just as Beomgyu is finishing up his angry rant at him. 

“…and I was just about to give you some info. Have fun sucking then, officer!”

That’s it. The finality. He is going to turn around and march away, just to bump into Kai.

Without much thinking, he shoots up to his feet, reaching his arms out to hold onto the other male so the disaster won’t happen. His hand slides around him and settles on the small of Beomgyu’s back while the other one is carefully cradling the back of his neck, keeping his gaze fixed to him. He barely registers the soft gasp slipped past Beomgyu’s lips at the surprise, but his eyes are looking up at Soobin in daze.

“I’m sorry,” he says. This time, he meant it.

He appears to be lucky, because Beomgyu seems to forget what he wanted to say, or that he was going to leave at all. It buys enough time for Kai to go back into the store, if he’s sensible enough to read the situation, but Soobin can’t confirm that since he can’t tear his gaze away from the pair of doe eyes staring at him. 

He’s trapped in this as much as Beomgyu is.

“If you’re sorry, you should help me,” Beomgyu’s face turns into a pleading one. It almost breaks Soobin’s heart. “Please?”

Before the effect could settle into him and he ends up giving up his professionalism just because of a pretty vampire begging him for it, he breaks all the contacts. His hands miss the warmth radiating from Beomgyu’s supposedly dead-cold body as soon as he detaches himself from the latter and lets them fall to his sides.

Beomgyu’s eyes harden instantly, filled with what seems like pure hatred directed at him. 

“You know what? I don’t need you anymore.”

“Beomgyu, just—“

“I don’t want to like you anymore either! So just, stop acting like you care!”

More than just storming away from him, this time Beomgyu leaves with a sticky slap on Soobin’s cheek. The popsicle sticks fall onto the grassy soil just as Soobin realizes what’s happening. 

When Kai finally approaches him a moment later, it’s obvious that he’s trying to stifle his laughter from seeing the streak of sticky ice cream trace on Soobin’s cheek. Only to be quietened down by a glare from the officer.

“Don’t say a word.” 

“How am I going to update you on what I got then?” he says defensively. That piques his interest. “I got the third missing girl’s address. Finally a lead!”

Soobin’s lips twitch into a smile seeing how excited the rookie is. “Is that so?”

“Yeah, the store owner didn’t have a clue, but suddenly there’s this man coming to give me the address? Lucky, huh?”

The additional information makes him arch a brow. Is this the slip-up he has been expecting to happen for a while? Whoever it is causing the disappearance of these girls (three, so far) have been so careful in covering up their tracks. What are the odds of someone helpful just happened to be at the store at the same time with Kai?

Perhaps this human does bring him some good luck. Soobin should take a note on that.

When they reach the address scribbled on the post-it note stuck on Kai’s palm, the sun is setting. It brings an eerie vibe to the small roads of the neighbourhood that just keeps getting smaller and smaller the longer they walk. Not that it’s comparable to the actual blood-stained roads of the areas that are tagged by vampire attacks already, as Soobin has seen a lot of those. It brings a different kind of depressing aura to anyone who walks down these forgotten streets.

No vampire attacks happened in this area of the neighbourhood, it just reeks of poverty and social imbalance. 

“The last time was a week ago, she told me that she might accept an offer for this job that pays well,” the old lady says as they questioned her by the door. Soobin already feels bad for making her do that since she seems sick. “She might just be busy because of her new job, right? I hope I’m just worrying for nothing.”

How many of this old lady has gone through this kind of experience? Missing person reports from this area of the city is never a priority for the human police force, and only when it’s connected to a shady vampire attack that the council officer takes charge of it. If it’s unrelated, then nobody will bother to look for these missing persons, and this old lady will be kept waiting until god knows when. 

“Thank you for your time. We will make sure to inform you when we have a lead,” Kai says with a bright smile to her. “Please have some rest!”

But Soobin is already walking away, sitting on the dirty staircase of the battered apartment complex while Kai takes care of the small talks. He rubs a hand over his forehead, trying not to get the unpleasant reality mixed up with his memories of the past. 

He’s once in the place of the missing person, too. Only that nobody ever looks for him.

Everyone who knew him as a human was already dead when he got turned.

“Mister?” 

As he’s lost in thought, he didn’t realize that the small voice has been calling out to him, until he almost jumps a few feet into the air when he spots a pair of round eyes staring at him from behind a mess of long black hair. 

“Mister, can I show you something?” the little girl says again. “I think I know where my sister disappeared to. The house swallowed her!”

==

Despite spending most of his time hanging out with the vampires these days, Kai still hates them with every inch of his body. 

He barely bears it when he is out working with Soobin, ignoring his knowledge about the hyung being a vampire since he just looks so _human_ at times. Someone at the office even told him that he looks more like a vampire than Soobin; that’s the best compliment he’s ever gotten. It also helps that Soobin is so nice to him, falling for his bright smiles just like any other vampire and vampire accomplices (human council officers) he met ever since he joined. 

But this one takes the cake.

Choi Yeonjun. 

For whatever reasons, Kai’s dislike towards this particular vampire seems to grow with every time he has to hand in his weekly report. Either it’s just by watching the blond sitting behind his desk and treating his report paper with such nonchalant expression or thinking about how the guy has control over _his_ Taehyun. 

He’s pretty sure that Yeonjun spends more time with Taehyun than he does, but he doesn’t want to acknowledge the fact that he might be jealous. Why would he be jealous of an ancient vampire guy?

“I heard from Soobin that you did a good job,” Yeonjun’s voice snaps him out of his little monologue inside his head. He tears his gaze away from the floor, only to find out that the blond is not even looking at him. He’s seated on his swivel chair with his legs propped up on the desk like he always does.

Everything he does always exude an air of superiority complex. 

“Is that so?”

“With the interviews, he said. You’re doing good as a human council officer,” Yeonjun puts down the paper and finally lifts his gaze to meet his own. “Why don’t you just stay this way and do what you’re good at?”

Kai clenches his jaws, but still has the smile plastered over his lips. Not quite reaching his eyes. “I’m flattered, but you know I have a different goal.”

“Oh well. It might take a while, but tell me when you give up, so I can assign you to a division that might suit you better.”

There’s just so many things that excuse his irritation towards this one vampire. He believes in these creatures’ rights to live, but not when it comes to Choi Yeonjun. 

“How long would it take until I get approved for the transformation?” he asks. He must have asked this question a little too often since most of the time, Yeonjun has an automatic response to it. 

But not this time. This time, the blonde is looking straight into his eyes. His gaze is almost challenging. 

“Maybe if you start acting like one of us, it will increase your chance by 1%.”

Like one of them. What’s that supposed to mean? 

Doing interviews is apparently not much of a vampire thing to do and Yeonjun was only setting him up by assigning him to this task, probably would move him to another division for real if he is really good at it. 

What is a vampire way, exactly? Attacking someone when they refuse to answer? Even Soobin is not doing that.

A corner of Kai’s eye twitches from annoyance, but he smiles brightly anyway. A perfect mask of an innocent, kind-hearted human who’s in love with the concept of being a vampire while in fact despising it to the bones. He is only doing this for Taehyun. 

“Roger that!”

Challenge accepted.

==

The house would indeed look scary for kids.

The little girl was shaking when she was asked to direct them down the small alleys and shortcuts that led them out of the small neighbourhood toward a complex where mansion-esque tall houses were lined up. She claimed that her sister took a job as a maid in one of the houses, but she never returned. 

The two of them decided to come back the next day to investigate the owner of the house. 

But Hueningkai never turns up at the office that morning. 

After loitering around the street for an hour, Soobin finally decided to ditch him and ring the bell to the house. It’s just a simple interview. He’s used to doing this alone every time Yeonjun would ditch him for some ‘important matter’. Now that his partner is a human rookie officer, he shouldn’t expect too much. 

What he isn’t expecting is for the door to swing open to the familiar face of Choi Jeongwoon himself, smiling pleasantly at him. 

“Welcome, officer. I’ve been expecting you!”

As much as Soobin hates to admit it, perhaps he should’ve listened to Choi Beomgyu. 

When he follows the male into the place, he’s thankful that at least Hueningkai is not coming with him. Although there is no intention to arrest him right away, there is still a probability for something to come up, especially seeing how temperamental this guy seems to be the last time he caught a sight of him with Beomgyu at the party. 

“Choi Soobin, right?” Jeongwoon asks once they are settled in the vast living room. Golden coloured liquor trickles into two glasses, and the vampire offers one to him. Day time drinking for vampires. Typical. “I didn’t expect Beomgyu’s officer pet to be the one visiting me. Human officers are easier to cooperate with. I like them.”

“Easier to break, you meant?” he scoffs.

And then it hits him. The man Kai met at the convenience store. There is no way a lead could fall into their hands so easily. It must be this asshole who has set them up, baiting them into finding their ways into this house for whatever reason he has.

His suspicion is just confirmed further when he feels a pair of familiar eyes on him. He turns his gaze just in time to catch the little girl who talked to him last time. The girl who claimed to see her sister disappearing into this house. 

“Have you been summoned?” Jeongwoon’s voice booms through the room. 

Realizing she has been spotted, the girl squeaks and turns around on her feet, scrambling back further into the endless corridors of the mansion.

“A little girl? You’re so sick, Choi Jeongwoon. You won’t ever get away with this.”

“What do you mean? I’m only handing jobs to poor children as maids,” he cocks his head towards the direction where the girl just ran off. “I don’t know what you’re trying to imply, but officers like you tend to come to us innocent vampires with criminal records when a problem arises. Some are even made as scapegoats.”

There’s something about this guy that gets under his skin, lighting up his irritation to the point that he just wants to snap and lock him away. But he is forced to just sit there and stare at the snob, wondering if things would be different if he had listened to Beomgyu.

“Really? Can you say that you’ve never seen these girls either?” 

Soobin takes out a picture of the third victim from the pocket of his blazer, pushing it across the table so the other vampire can take a look at it. For a split second, there is a flash of recognition across Jeongwoon’s eyes, which is quickly snuffed out as their eyes meet again. 

“And who might this fine lady be?” he asks, words dripping of exaggerated charisma. 

“She’s been missing for two weeks.”

“Is that so? I hired cleaning help from time to time from the service company, different one each time,” he says, pushing the picture back with no interest afterwards. “I hope you find her soon, though. Seohee-ssi is a well behaved girl.”

“You seem to take a great care of remembering her name despite not knowing who she is,” Soobin says with a corner of his lips tugged up in a small smirk. As he bends down to take the picture back from the table, he feels an intense stare on him. So he smiles sweetly when he looks up to meet Jeongwoon’s gaze again. “I assume that you don’t still have her somewhere in this big house? Cleaning or something?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Nothing much. Hiring a human’s help to clean is not illegal, after all. Unless it’s for something else then… I think you know the charge,” Soobin says, getting up from his seat without touching his drink and bending himself in a bow at last. “See you soon?”

Jeongwoon is still stunned on his seat as he walks towards the front door. He wonders how long it would take for Yeonjun to come to the phone and accept his request for a search warrant. Judging from the time, he must be deep in his daylight slumber. Soobin just has to stay around the vicinity to make sure that this guy won’t try to make a run for it. He’s definitely suspicious no matter what. 

Before he can make it to the door, however, he hears a set of gentle footsteps walking towards him. His eyes widen as he comes face to face with the lady in the picture herself. The teenager looks dazed. Unfocused eyes staring up at him without any recognition or reaction to light. Her neck is marred by leftover yellow bruises. Not so obvious, but clear enough to confirm a series of constant feeding.

Soobin has been in the field long enough to recognize all the signs. 

By how the table screeches from the direction of where Jeongwoon is sitting, it’s apparent that the guy is not expecting this either. After all, she is supposed to be totally under his control, and she can’t just walk around to seek help from an officer like this. 

When he looks past the girl, he found the answer walking into the room from behind her.

“Hello…? I accidentally found the girl,” it’s none other than Kai, smiling meekly as he switches from staring at Soobin, and then to Jeongwoon who’s standing stunned in the middle of his living room. “The backdoor is not locked, by the way.”

Soobin is not sure if the guy even recognizes the weight of the situation. He’s just smiling there. A hint of guilt in his face, but not enough to wipe the innocent spark in his eyes. 

He just needs a look at Jeongwoon’s eyes staring at the girl to know what’s going next, barely making it in time to push the girl towards Kai as Jeongwoon launches himself towards their direction. One second too late, he might have to watch him break her neck, or worse. It’d be the best way to clear out the evidence, after all.

Not on his watch. 

==

Going back to work after what happened last time doesn’t seem to be appealing for Taehyun. If only it’s not for the fact that he’s being tied with a contract, he’d already withdraw from this line of job. 

What passion does he have right now? Acting? Modelling? Everything died with the old him back during the accident. 

All that’s left in him is the constant need for him to restrain his needs and a neverending spark of rage. If he lets himself loosen up a little, he could feel the burning pain in his eyes as they are turning in colour, or the ticklish feeling in his gums for every time his fangs about to break out from his gums. 

It’s even worse than before he started feeding like a _normal_ vampire, if they’re ever considered normal at all. Before he willingly started to drink human blood, at least the blood spilled into his throat is nothing to wound his conscience. It’s just Beomgyu, and he didn’t have any qualms about hurting Beomgyu since he’s a vampire too. Now Taehyun is in a perpetual fight with himself, teetering over the edge of slipping every time he walks into a place with humans around him. Just a wrong step, and he will be the downfall of himself.

Though perhaps, he doesn’t even need to do it at all.

That morning he brings his resignation letter to the company, the letter is ignored on top of the table, and instead, a nightmare is presented to him on a laptop screen. 

His manager himself is the one who’s showing him the film. A footage of him throwing the male to the mirror in the dressing room, back when he snapped. He watches as the pathetic redhead vampire crawls under the dressing table, staying motionless there until someone else comes. 

It’s Yeonjun. _God_. He’s even risking Yeonjun.

“Are you sure you want to leave the company, Taehyun-ssi? Aside from all the legal matters, there is also too much to lose,” the man says. His hand rubbing over the fading long mark of stitched wound inflicted on him from that day recorded in the footage. “I wonder what people would say about this. The real identity of Kang Taehyun. A freak.”

He can feel his blood rushing, thumping in his ears so loud that he can’t hear the other speaking anymore. Just a snap of a band, and he would jump over the table to rip his head off his neck. He can do it, right? 

“What do you want from me?” he asks shakily instead, claws sinking into his own thighs. 

“We don’t care about what kind of weird things you might be into. Just stay here and rake in all the money. You’re too precious to be let go, Taehyun-ssi.”

He shuts his eyes tightly. _We_. It’s not just his manager. Even if he gets rid of the male, there will be others who knows and will come for him. Will expose him to the world. He will be arrested and tried. And Yeonjun. Yeonjun will be involved. He will be so disappointed in Taehyun that he might end him with his own hands. 

“Just stay here and stay as our cash cow. Is that so hard to do?”

Taehyun can barely recall anything the moment he steps out from the office. Did he say anything back then? Probably not, judging from how he is holding the crumpled mess of what’s left of his resignation letter. His head is filled with the red colour, pulsing with ripples of warm anger. The first wave of the familiar state he was when he snapped back at the dressing room. 

If he snaps right there, in the middle of the crowded lobby of the entertainment building, he’d ruin his life before these higher-up pests in the company could do it. 

“Taehyun?”

But he is doing better at controlling his emotions now, judging from how he hasn’t felt the burning pain in his eyes unlike last time. He is focusing on the pain of being thrown around by Yeonjun instead, and how that vampire would kill him if he lost it in such a public space. Yeonjun would be too happy to do it, so he won’t give him the satisfaction.

“Kang Taehyun!”

He is snapped out of his trance by the loud call of his name. Only now does he realize that he has been standing there suspended in the middle of the lobby. And then he noticed the concerned face of his best friend right before him.

There’s an urge to run away, as well as to stay there and burrow into Beomgyu’s comforting arms, as he would do prior to the accident whenever he got too mentally or physically exhausted by his endless schedules. After all, this hyung was once his best friend.

“Beomgyu hyung,” he acknowledges. 

There’s a hint of relief in Beomgyu’s eyes, as well as the loosening of the formerly desperate grip on his hand. “You’re not running away.”

That earns him a scoff from the redhead. And he sees the hyung’s smile for the first time in forever. 

“I’m not.”

“Then… can we talk?” Beomgyu asks. Voice filled with hope. “Let’s go somewhere and talk. I missed you so much.”

There’s a moment where Taehyun is actually considering the possibility. Then it’s diminished quickly as he can still feel the fire burning under his skin. It’s not a suitable time to rekindle a friendship with someone, not when he has too much fire inside him.

“Not today, hyung. Not yet.”

Something breaks in Beomgyu’s eyes at the reply, and the vampire looks like he wanted to complain. He would totally complain. It’s just how his character is. But then Beomgyu smiles instead, despite a subtle tremble of his lips. He releases his hand and lets him leave.

_Not yet._

He can’t possibly tell Beomgyu that the reason he’s avoiding him so much is his own guilt. He has always blamed Beomgyu during the first few months of his turn, loathed him so much, but also taken a lot from the guy. He heard about the charges. The danger Beomgyu would have gone through just by turning him into a vampire. Yet the vampire had no second thought of biting into him that day of the accident. 

What he gave in return is hell for the elder, and now he is just too ashamed to apologize. 

Not knowing that he is just digging down a deeper chasm between them.

==

Beomgyu is not someone graced by enough free time, being a model who’s in demand for photoshoots and pictorials every other day. It’s just his luck that he’s gotten some time off this morning, which causes him to be available enough for his occasional stake-out around the mansion. 

It’s been weeks since he starts to gather dirt on Jeongwoon, yet his limited stalking time seems to take him away from the place whenever something shady happens. 

This morning, like any other time, he makes his way towards the park across the tall houses, hoisting himself up to a tree’s branch and hiding himself there. It’s uncomfortable, with the bark of the tree digging onto his back and that he has to stay there motionless for hours, until he has to go again. But it’s the only way he can catch something, since Soobin is unwilling to help him.

Thinking about Soobin makes his chest ache for some unknown reason that he doesn’t want to mull over. It just intensifies the moment he spots the guy down the street right across the tree he’s hiding at. 

It’s true that he was the one who asked Soobin to investigate the guy with him, yet he can’t help the panic and foreboding chill inside him when he saw the officer disappear into the house. 

It should be okay. He convinces himself multiple times as his eyes stay fixed on the closed door of the mansion. There’s no way Jeongwoon would attack an officer. 

The waiting is painful, dragged into what feels like hours. The whole time, Beomgyu can only sit there on top of the tree, biting his nails and staring dagger into the gate of the house. He wishes Soobin had joined forces with him, let him help. That way, he won’t have to be this worried.

Which is just pathetic for him, seeing that he threw a whole tantrum and claimed that he doesn’t like Soobin anymore.

He’s proven wrong soon after as he caught the faint sound of a crash coming from the house, intensified by his enhanced hearing skill. Even then, he’s still successful in keeping himself composed.

That’s it, until he caught the scent of blood wafting towards him. The presence is subtle in the air, but that’s enough. Enough to set his own blood ablaze with anger, transferred into the burning of his eyes as the contact lenses melt and the silver of his eyes flash in the shadow of the leaves falling upon him. 

It’s Soobin. 

Jeongwoon can keep bullying him for the rest of his life, but not like this. Not Soobin. 

He must have blacked out from the anger, because he doesn’t recall jumping off the tree, or making his way towards the house. He doesn’t recall banging on the door until it’s released from its hinges. The next thing he knows is that he’s already inside the vast living room that reeks of blood and liquor.

The first thing he spots when his head clears out is Soobin sprawled on the floor with broken liquor bottles around him. That’s where the blood comes from. He must have hit the shelf pretty hard during whatever fight they had. And then he sees Jeongwoon on the floor, laughing like a maniac. From a corner of his eyes, he can see Kai and a human girl, retreating backwards into safety. 

Not only Soobin, he has to involve Kai too. Beomgyu doesn’t know if he’s ever been so angry before. 

He is _fuming_. 

“You’re so dead, Choi Jeongwoon!” he cries out, running towards the direction of his brother who still looks way too amused. He’s easily brushed off to the side with a single smack of a hand, but that doesn’t stop him, only making him snarl as he pounces on the vampire. 

“Choi Beomgyu?” the asshole breaks into a wider smile, as if the party has just gotten even merrier for him with his brother’s appearance.

“You. Don’t. Touch. My. Friends.”

It’s a lot of clawing and snapping teeth at each other. An unsightly fight. He’s only momentarily stopping to catch his breath as he’s thrown against the other door, breaking it off completely and exposing the room to the scorching sunlight from outside.

That’s when he sees it, the familiar silver glint in Jeongwoon’s hand as the male walks towards Soobin.

“Is this your officer pet, Choi Beomgyu? This should teach you a lesson then. Don’t let your pet mess with my toys ever again.”

Beomgyu’s blinded by rage at this point, because no, he really should not run towards the direction of a silver stake. A vampire should avoid them at all cost, right? Especially when it is in the hand of someone who hates them. But that’s exactly what he does.

It shouldn’t be so surprising when he feels the burning pain lodged into his chest. At first, it comes in a sharp pain of it cutting into his skin, and then it spreads from there on, immobilizing him and rendering him useless. The pain is so blinding that he can’t even think of protecting Soobin anymore, or to wipe away the smirk he spots in Jeongwoon’s face.

_“Beomgyu!”_

He mildly registers the call of his name. It sounds like it comes from a place far away, not quite reaching him since he’s already falling. There’s no ground to welcome him. Only the bottomless pit of agonizing pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look at that... more conflicts haha


	11. Chapter 11

It starts with a deafening crash of liquor bottles as Soobin’s back hits the display, and then everything is spiralling down from there. 

The stench of blood is evident in the air, mixing with the sharp stench of alcohol as the content of the bottles trickle down his body and the floor around him. The sting from the cuts hurt, but the alcohol is what makes it more unbearable. Soobin takes a moment to sit there and wait for his wound to heal, clenching his teeth tight as his piercing glare shot at Jeongwoon. 

The vampire seems to be taken aback by the punch he landed, which must have broken a few ribs. He half-expects the fight to resume any second soon when the door is suddenly broken down from outside, and then Jeongwoon starts laughing. 

It’s as if he’s already expecting Beomgyu’s arrival, judging from how he easily counters the one-sided attack. The fight is happening so rapidly that Soobin almost couldn’t follow it with his eyes, but he has to do  _ something _ . He knows he could do it like that last time Beomgyu tried to fight for him when they encountered the pureblood. 

The exact same situation, only that this pureblood has more grasps on what he’s doing. He’s dangerous. 

When it’s slowing down, it’s because of the presence of the silver stake. 

He should be scared for his life. But what happens is even worse than having the stake lodged in his own heart. He has to sit there and watch as Beomgyu jumps in between them. The silver colour of the blade that he usually adores is now stained by blood, as it sinks deep into Beomgyu’s flesh, followed by a pained gasp from the vampire.

It hurts. 

He can  _ feel _ it from the way Beomgyu screams as he stumbles back, right into his welcoming arms. He can feel it from the tremors in the body he’s holding against his chest, as Beomgyu tries his hardest to contain the pain. He can feel it from the burning pain in his own heart, like he’s the one being stabbed. It rattles in his bones, immobilizing him with the pain first before the sensation turns into rage. 

When he looks up at Jeongwoon, the guy is also in disbelief. His eyes are wide, hands stained in Beomgyu’s blood as he takes a few steps back. 

“Did you see that?” a sickening smile slowly spreads over his lips. “I killed Choi Beomgyu! Fucking finally! Someone had to do it—“

His voice is abruptly halted, and Soobin realizes that he’s the cause only once he registered the fact that he’s now back on his feet. He has his arm pressing against the vampire’s neck, pinning him against the wall with the force of the firm hand alone. With so much anger that’s shaking his body, Soobin would applaud himself for keeping such a calm façade. 

“You really think so, huh? You thought your little stake could end his life like that? I’ve never seen anyone sucked that badly,” he scoffs, voice dripping with ice as he brings himself closer and closer to the repulsive being before him. He just slams Jeongwoon harder against the wall as he hears his choked laughter. 

The laughter only dissipates at the sight of another silver stake. This time, it’s coming from the little pocket specially sewed into Soobin’s uniform. 

“No, wait—you can’t do this? You’re not allowed to do this.”

Soobin ignores him. “Do you know why it takes us years of training and supervision until we’re allowed to hold a stake?” he asks, icy venom drips down from his voice, despite the sweet smile he has on his lips. 

“No, shut the fuck up and let go of me!” Jeongwoon is struggling in his earnest now, but his voice is reduced into a groan as Soobin pulls him by the front of his shirt and throws him back to the wall in a full force. Spidery webs lines cracked along the expanse of the wall, catching the vampire by surprise along with the tip of the silver stake sinking into his chest.

“That’s because they need to make sure we can locate  _ exactly _ where the heart is,” he tilts the blade by its handle—“to drive it right inside, and make the kill”—tipping it upwards before he is thrusting it completely into the resisting flesh. 

His smile only grows as he hears the choked noise from the latter. It reaches his eyes, especially as he watches the life goes out from Jeongwoon’s eyes. 

The vampire grows stone-cold, before he slides down to the floor once Soobin releases his grip. The only trace that he was alive is the pool of blood that’s already trickling out from the edge of the stake, while everything inside him is frozen solid now. 

A dying vampire doesn’t make a pretty sight. 

“Hyung! Beomgyu hyung!” 

Kai’s scream snaps him out of the little daze he had, making him sprint back to the middle of the room where Beomgyu is still writhing, holding onto his bleeding chest. The stake is already removed, clattering a safe distance away from him. But the gaping wound is not healing. 

Wounds that are caused by silver are harder to heal even with their self-regenerating ability, if they ever able to heal at all. That vampire might as well had inflicted the same wound on Soobin’s chest since he can feel a hole being carved right into his ribs, seeing Beomgyu writhing in pain like this. His soundless screams echoed inside his head, tearing away at every nerves of pain. 

“Kai, keep the girl safe at all cost, I’m counting on you,” he says calmly, not prying his gaze away from Beomgyu as he takes the limp body into his arms. His heart broke again when Beomgyu sniffles into his chest. “Call Yeonjun.”

“But hyung—“

“Please just, do it.”

He doesn’t spare more attention to the younger as he walks out of there with Beomgyu cradled against his chest. His head thudding gently against the side of Beomgyu’s head as the vampire whines softly from the jolt.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to save me?”

==

Beomgyu wakes up with a scream trapped in his throat. It’s reduced into whimper as he feels soft stroking of fingers along his hair. The wet, sweat-soaked hair that’s matted against his forehead. Why is he still alive? He could as well be dead already with this amount of pain. No one should be allowed to experience this kind of intense pain without passing out. 

“We’ll just have to get him to consume as much blood as possible at this point. I’m not sure how much will suffice, but the wound will only close once he has enough.”

“Doc, he’s mateless…”

There comes the silence, hanging above him like a guillotine. 

“In that case, the best thing to do is to find his mate.”

He’s swimming in thick, murky liquid right now. Every time he comes up to the surface, he can only feel pain filling his lungs in exchange of oxygen. 

“There’s nothing else we can do at this point. Let’s see if the blood bags we provide here will suffice. If not then we’ll talk again later.”

As soon as the doctor finishes saying that, Beomgyu feels his mouth forced open, and then a blood bag is shoved between his teeth. It’s his instinct that made him automatically snap his teeth down to bite into it, letting the bag explode and drench him with blood. God, this must have made him look like a beast. A feral vampire who can only think of feeding. Because that’s what he is right now. But he doesn’t want it. He doesn’t want the blood that’s trickling down his throat right now. He needs something else. 

The hand that fed him the blood trembles just before it’s withdrawn. Mildly, he can hear a shaky voice in the background.

“Hyung, please don’t die,” is that Taehyun? No way. Taehyun wouldn’t want to see him anymore. Especially not now that he’s at his lowest state. He must be so disgusted if he were around. “You can’t die after you let me act like an ass to you, please. Let me make it up to you…”

He can’t hear the rest of the words, because his chest pulsed with another wave of pain, and then he’s screaming out again from the pain. It’s upped by a notch now, enough to shut his system down from the shock. 

He’s succumbing back into the peaceful silence where pain doesn’t exist.

==

The next time Beomgyu wakes up, Soobin is in the room. Everyone else is already leaving since it’s been way too many hours and the hole in Beomgyu’s chest is still gaping, barely healing on its own. Soobin is startled from where he is sitting as he hears a soft scream from the restrained body lying on the bed. It sounds more painful to hear now, like Beomgyu has already lost all his strength to even make the noise.

Blood is everywhere no matter how hard the janitor has worked to clean it. It’s staining Beomgyu’s shirt from where he’d messily fed on the substance, just to pass out every time. There is also some on the floor, smudging the formerly pristine white floor. A trace of an unhealing wound.

Soobin is there for the last three times Beomgyu jolts himself awake, and it’s getting harder to see each time. 

“Hey, how are you feeling?” he gets up, hovering closely to the vampire and bringing his hand to brush through Beomgyu’s hair. It’s all dried now. His skin cold to the touch.

His answer comes in the form of a snarl, and he barely jerks his head away from the danger zone as Beomgyu snaps his teeth towards him. The fangs already break through his gums again, ready to feed for countless of times today. Too much blood, yet still not enough to help him. It’s becoming a routine that Soobin’s grown sick to see. After the initial attack, Beomgyu would start thrashing around in his bed, trying to break free from the restraint of metal straps that bind him to the bed. 

Only this time, he is not silenced by a blood bag stuffed into his mouth. A feral scream rips through the silence of the room before he slumps back into the bed. The angry silver in his eyes slowly melts back into its deep, black state, brimming with tears as he gazes up at Soobin pleadingly. 

“It hurts… hurts so much,” he whimpers, fingers flexing out before they balled up into fists again. “Can you just end it for me?”

Soobin is reminded of the pain inside his chest at this. It’s almost like his heart is torn in the place of Beomgyu’s, just by seeing his agonized state for hours instead of his usual annoying self bouncing towards him.

But it’s not about him. Beomgyu needs the relief more than he does. 

“Do you want to bite me?” he asks.

For a moment, there is no sound in the room. Not even the sound of Beomgyu’s harsh breathing. The vampire has forgotten to breathe as he gazes up at Soobin with his lips parted. Sharp canines peeking out from between his crimson lips. 

His eyes widen upon hearing the click of metal being unlocked, courtesy of Soobin who swiftly takes care of undoing the restraint around Beomgyu’s body. But he’s still stoic on the bed, immobile, with his fists clenched and shaking, obviously trying to restraint himself. As Soobin brings a hand down to pet his hair, he sobs quietly, letting a stream of tears drip down his cheeks. 

“It’s okay,” he whispers reassuringly, brushing the tears away and pressing his thumb down on Beomgyu’s bottom lip. The sharp points of one of his fangs is pressing onto his skin, but not enough to break it. “I’m letting you.”

“No… please. I won’t—I can’t stop. I won’t be able to stop…”

He’s crying again now, looking like he’s in an even worse state than before he’s unlocked from the restraint. 

“It’s okay, Beomgyu.”

And then the flash of danger is back in his eyes.

The room is soon filled with the noises of medical tools clattering to the floor, followed by a thud of Soobin’s body down to the tiles. He hasn’t registered the pain when Beomgyu is already pouncing on him, hands pushing down on his chest. It feels eerily similar to the scene from the first night they met, only this time there’s no playful glint in Beomgyu’s eyes, just despair and  _ want _ .

It should be alarming. The blazing silver of his eyes are interrupted by the appearance of crimson orb on his left eye in the place of his pretty silver pair. A sign that the vampire has slowly succumbed into his feral state. Just a little later, and he might have lost Beomgyu completely to his urges.

Soobin suspects that with the state he is in right now, Beomgyu might lose himself and accidentally kill him. But it doesn’t matter. Not when he has the vampire shaking and crying on top of him. For some reasons, he is willing to do anything as long as he can take away the pain from the whimpering boy.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

He sounds so broken, that Soobin’s heart breaks all over again for him, painful enough to distract him from the fear of the sharp fangs glinting under the minimum light in the room. He shuts his eyes, his hand gently rubbing over Beomgyu’s wrist as the male holds onto his cheek. Any time now, he is readying himself for the pain.

But it never comes. 

Instead of the piercing pain on his pulse point, Soobin feels warm hands pressed on his cheeks instead, cradling his face so gently. He’s about to open his eyes to see what’s going on when he feels a pair of lips pressed against his own. 

It’s a gentle, yet desperate kiss. It’s filled with longing, making his heart ache for a whole different reason now. The contact is painful and sweet at once, filling his system with a rush of indescribable sensation. 

When the pain comes, it’s not from a bite. It’s from fingers clutching around his neck, cutting off his breathing and blood circulation to his brain. You’d think vampires don’t need oxygen to function anymore until you get choked. 

“Beomgyu, what—“ 

“I’m sorry… Soobin I’m so sorry, I love you. I can’t do this to you.“

He feels tears dropping onto his face, and the fight leaves his body. Soobin wonders if he stops fighting because he is actually dying or because of the despair dripping from Beomgyu’s voice. But it’s too late to change anything now, as his consciousness is already slipping from between his grasps. 

He’s floating. 

**_==_ **

The day has been dragged for too long. The lines between daylight and nigh time are blurred when you’re living in double worlds like Taehyun does. It’s nothing strange that some days are longer than the others due to his fucked up sleeping pattern. But today is particularly longer for another reason. 

The first reason being this shit of a company blackmailing him into staying and working his ass off to work a job that he doesn’t want to do anymore.

The other reason comes to him in a phone call from Hueningkai, who frantically alarms him that  _ “Beomgyu hyung is dying! You have to come here!” _

It sounds absurd at that moment, considering Beomgyu is a vampire and Taehyun doesn’t need to waste his time worrying about one of his deaths. Only once he drops by at the council building after work that he regrets not coming sooner. Even the most stoic front he has perfected throughout his life couldn’t stay in his face when he is facing the grotesque sight of the room Beomgyu’s kept in. 

The body restrained on the bed. The gaping wound. The blood that he’s hoping to be anyone else’s other than Beomgyu, as it is splattered all over the floor and bed. Everywhere he lays his eyes on, he can only see  _ red _ .

And Beomgyu. It’s painful to look at him. 

When he regains consciousness for a moment, Taehyun can see that the vampire can only feel  _ pain _ . The tremors on the tips of his fingers show that enough, topped with the fact that the hyung can’t recognize him or his words when he tries to speak to him. 

He knows that he keeps calling Beomgyu annoying for being noisy back then, but Taehyun would pick five of that Beomgyu compared to this one.

Eventually, he has to step out of the room, only able to breathe again once he’s far enough from the treatment room so he doesn’t have to catch the sound of Beomgyu’s scream the next time he wakes up. He ends up sitting at the park outside of the lobby, staring up at the starless sky for what seems like forever until someone comes to sit next to him. 

He doesn’t need to look at the newcomer to recognize him. He would recognize this comforting presence anywhere. 

That’s why he doesn’t flinch when he feels the guy rests his head on top of his shoulder, nuzzling to his side. He assumes that the younger is just as devastated as he is, but it appears to be worse, judging from what he said next.

“I messed up,” he says, mumbling as he rubs his nose into the fabric of Taehyun’s plaid shirt. “It’s because of me that Beomgyu hyung became like that. If he hadn’t shown up, it could’ve easily been me and Soobin hyung who fell victim to that evil vampire.”

Taehyun hates to see Beomgyu suffering in that bed, but he also hates the thought of Kai being harmed while meddling in the issues he shouldn’t have concerned himself with. 

When he arrived at the place, the vampire who never left Beomgyu’s side explained to him what happened, probably pitied him for looking so lost. So he’s aware of what caused the devastating scene at that room. What Kai had contributed to the incident. 

It makes Taehyun feel nauseous, that he’s relieved for Kai since he’s not getting hurt in the place of these vampires. They can actually protect themselves without using humans in their law enforcement system. Humans like Kai are more vulnerable to losing his life, and these vampires won’t even care about him since humans are only as good as a blood-producing machine for them. 

“Hey, look at me,” he demands, only to be punched by an invisible fist to his guts when Kai looks up at him. His eyes filled with unshed tears. Visible under the poor lighting from the street lamps. “You just wanted to help. That girl won’t be saved if it weren’t for you.”

“If I had followed the protocols, Beomgyu hyung wouldn’t…” he trails off, sniffling before he rubs his nose with his sleeve. “Oh god, he’s not dead, right?”

“Not yet.”

The curt answer only causes the tear to roll down Kai’s cheek. Taehyun feels his chest constrict at the sight. He hasn’t seen the boy cry for long, long years since that time in middle school when he lost his pet porcupine. 

The sight evokes a protective urge within him that makes him reach out and bring Kai into his arms in a hug. He lets the boy sob into his shoulder, stroking his back as they hugged at that bench in the dark part of an empty park.

At that moment, he comes up with a resolution that he can never lose Hueningkai too. Not after he lost Hyejoo in that accident, and is possibly losing his best friend right now. He will do whatever it takes to keep the human safe. 

The crying takes only a short moment, and as soon as Kai draws back, he has regained his composure again. Taehyun wipes away the remnants of his tears with the sleeves of his sweater, biting back a smile seeing Kai’s nose twitches from the attention. 

“I need to go in for questioning,” Kai says. “I hope they won’t take away my badge. It will take a lot more time for me to get the offer then.”

_ The offer _ . Taehyun stiffens at that. “You’re still aiming for that.”

“Isn’t it obvious? I want to stay with you, after all.”

“Huening… we talked about this.”

“And I’ve made it clear that I’m not going to stop until I make sure that I can keep my promise to you.”

That’s Kai and his stubbornness. There’s no way he will back down before he accomplishes his goal. It’s an endearing trait, but also a frustrating one. 

There’s a pulsing in Taehyun’s head, almost making him snap and scream at the younger again like the other day, or beg him to stop. But there’s a more pressing matter, and he finds himself getting up to leave him instead, trying to cool him down so his eyes won’t burn and melt his contact lenses this time.

“I’m going to see Beomgyu hyung.”

The decision he takes right there is the first step into the third phase of this long day. 

The moment he enters the room, there is no scream or whimper like he expected. The stench of blood is still making him lightheaded, to the point that he didn’t realize that the door has been left ajar even before he got there, nor did he realize the faint trail of bloody footprints on the corridor leading to the emergency staircase. 

He’s only aware that something is wrong when he spots a familiar vampire officer laid unconscious on the floor, and the bed is empty. The initial confusion settles into fear once it makes it to the pit of his stomach. 

Beomgyu is heading towards a path worse than death. 

The one he saved Taehyun from. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short update!! too much blood in this chapter so a little break is overdue


	12. Chapter 12

“You’re not even trying! What are you doing hanging around here when you could be on the street looking for him?”

Yeonjun is momentarily distracted by the question coming from the redhead. He hadn’t even noticed the guy entering the gym, his safe place from any other staff that seems like they’ve always had something to ask from him. After all, he is only tied to the council because he has to pay off his sins, not because he has a passion for justice in the fucked up vampire society.

They are no better than humans in this case.

The other staff knows better than to bother him when he’s exercising, but Taehyun, the guy seems comfortable bothering him here even as he has sent his best deadly glare at the other. There’s not a bit of fear on him. It’s like he has reached the level of comfort around the vampire as Soobin does after several decades of working under him.

He’s way too fearless for Yeonjun’s liking.

“There’s no reasons I _have to_ go out there just to look for that brat,” he scoffs.

“But you’re good at that. You found me last time.”

“You called me. Besides, you’re under my supervision, so I’m the one who’s responsible to end your life if you ever mess up,” he spits, tearing his gaze away from the latter as he focuses on his workout routine again. His hands gripping onto the pull-up bar as he hoists himself up slowly. “For a case like Choi Beomgyu, anyone can find and kill him. He killed an officer.”

“Or you could save him like what you did for me last time.”

Yeonjun then notices a long stare on him, discovering Taehyun’s eyes fixed on his arm where the vampire’s teeth were laced onto last time. It’s on full sight, extended as he’s gripping onto the bar. His muscles straining and flexing. Even though the skin is not marred by a leftover scar from the incident, the feeling still lingers.

It’s shameful, to let himself get bitten by a vampire, let alone a newborn whom he’s supposed to be supervising.

If he’s really the cold-blooded, ruthless Choi Yeonjun everyone speaks about, Taehyun would be nothing but his name by now. He’d probably have Beomgyu going feral even sooner, out for his blood for killing his best friend; but that one pureblood is dying anyway, so he has nothing to fear about.

So, _why?_ Why has he been so lenient on Taehyun?

Is it the pair of round eyes staring at him with poorly masked hatred? It must have been a nice change from when Seukhee used to stare at him with those clear eyes filled with love, masking her true intentions well. It's ironic, how Taehyun is the actual actor between the two. He had the power to manipulate him better than she ever did.

There he goes again, comparing the two.

“Is Beomgyu hyung going to die?” Taehyun breaks the silence again, probably seeing that Yeonjun is not entertaining his naïve idea.

“Probably.”

“Seeing him like that, it reminds me of…”

Yeonjun has tuned him out at this point, finally releasing the bar and landed on the floor with a sharp thud of his soles against the floor. It barely fazes the younger vampire. Only once he steps closer to the male that Taehyun’s eyes widened a tad, staring at him in confusion.

“Stop it. Whatever you’re trying to do.”

“What?“

“Stop acting like we’re friends. Like you belong in this place,” he starts, relishing in the way Taehyun backs away at his presence being too close. That's right. That's the only emotion Taehyun should have for him. _Fear_. “Didn’t you want to hold onto the last piece of your humanity? Just go back to hating me if you don’t want to lose it any faster. Don’t act like you can just waltz into my personal spaces anytime and ask for a favour.”

“I don’t hate you,” the redhead says nonchalantly. “And I think I’ve lost it all at this point.”

The officer scoffs. “If that so, I won’t hold back from turning your little human friend into one of us, then. Since you shouldn’t care anymore.”

Taehyun frowns. “How does this concern him?”

“I think you’re aware of how he’s trying so hard to impress and move up the rank quickly, to the point that he would sacrifice anything. Including your other friend.”

“He didn’t mean to do that…”

“This is what happens when kids like you guys try to play a game in this predatory world, Kang. Why don’t you just stay in your world and live the most out of it until you can’t anymore? Didn’t you say that you would quit your job too? You can’t even pick a side,” he spits, punctuating it with a scoff. A smirk tugs on his lips as he sees the way Taehyun’s jaw clenched.

“I wanted to talk to you about that, actually.”

“Keep it. Just stay away and keep your human in check. Kids like you guys should just stay safe in the human’s playground.”

Taehyun’s gaze slowly starts to harden. “I’m not a kid. And _you_ made me like this.”

“Is it me, or your drive to live? Because you wouldn’t have survived that turn if you really didn’t want to live. Stop being a hypocrite, Taehyun. You want to live. You’re just guilty about it because you’re happy for the fact that you’re the one survived instead of your girlfriend.”

“What the fuck, Choi Yeonjun? That’s so low even for you,” the newborn is shaking from anger now. It fills Yeonjun with satisfaction, getting under his skin like this to the point that he’s lost his composure.

“Now, go hang out with Huening kai. You two are the same kind anyway. Isn’t he happy that he can get you all to himself now?”

“Shut up. Just. _Shut up!_ ”

Despite his eyes that flash in red, he is holding himself back pretty well, only managing to kick a barbell across the room before he’s storming out from the gym.

Sighing, Yeonjun goes to lie down on a mattress, staring up at the ceiling of the room. It’s better not to have any connection with someone who reminds him so much of Seukhee. After all she was his punishment, and he won’t let her come back to ruin his life once more in the form of another newborn vampire who cares too much for his own good.

**_==_ **

****

When Soobin wakes up, he feels a hollow space in his chest instead of his stone-cold heart.

He is sitting inside a holding cell, eyes void while his ears are taking in the information from this other council officer. A fellow uniformed who’s unlucky enough to be tasked to question him.

How long has it been? Way too many hours too long, probably, since he had to recover from his death. Still with his neck aching from reattaching bones, now he has to listen to this person talk about how he had let a rogue vampire goes unrestrained.

But that vampire is also a dying one, and they don’t even care about it.

Did you know Choi Beomgyu prior to the incident? _Yes_.

Did you unrestraint him on purpose? _Yes_.

Were you aware of the consequences? _I don’t know._

Did he bite you? He takes a moment to answer this one. _No._

The person starts to read him some possible charges on him, what he could do to appeal, and what he should _not_ be doing during the investigation period. This is the first time Soobin is not interested in listening to details concerning his life. He tuned out the monotonous speaking voice, only nodding at some appropriate points, acting like he understood what he is going through right now.

He has gotten punished when Beomgyu choked him to death, and now he’s punished again for making the wrong decision.

But was it really a wrong decision when he only wanted Beomgyu to live? Anyone who’s trapped inside the room with the dying vampire was bound to do anything to help him survive, and Soobin had spent hours listening to the vampire whimper in his sleep. How could he not offer his blood?

Or is there another reason that pushed him into making this bad decision that will ruin both of them?

As soon as he is released from the holding cell, Soobin is ushered into a questioning room. He sits down on his chair, eyes flitting around the grey dominated room and at the empty chair across of him. It’s ironic, how he was usually the one sitting there and questioning vampires for possible petty crimes, and now he’s stuck on the other side. How ironic.

When the person who’s questioning him finally walks in, he tries not to look too surprised.

It's Choi Myungjoo himself. Either his other secretary can’t handle the job alone anymore or the matter is really important to him that they have to speak without being supervised.

Even the camera inside the questioning room is turned off. Not lit up red and moving like it usually does. Just from this, he knows that some higher-up politics is going to partake here.

“Choi Soobin,” he starts, gaining Soobin’s attention right away as he tips his chin up to add an intimidation value. He is not afraid of the guy. At least he doesn’t think so.

The vampire looks so young and sophisticated despite having lived for several centuries already. It’s the depth of his eyes that give away just how hold he actually is, reflecting years of struggles and horrors that he’s experienced. It reminds him so much of that beautiful vampire with sweet tongue who turned him against his will.

The fact that he is trapped in a closed room with the guy doesn’t make it any better. He can feel the wave of nausea building up in his abdomen the longer they are sitting through this uncomfortable silence.

“I have been made aware of that my sons have brought inconvenience for you, Choi Soobin-ssi.” He lifts his gaze when the other finally speaks up. It starts off too well. “I want to apologize for that, and assure you that you’ve made the right decision concerning Jeongwoon.”

“Even if he was your son?”

“Even more so. He was raised to know better than to bring shame to the family’s name,” the male scoffs, leaning back on his seat with one leg folded neatly over the other. “However, the mistake lay in how you handled Beomgyu.”

He grimaces at that. “I’m sorry?”

“It was a pity that he was released that way, but to my understanding, you two are romantically involved. So, your decision is not much of a surprise anymore.”

“We’re not…” he trails off, chest aching as he remembers the beating of Beomgyu’s heart reacting to his hand. Remembering about the kiss they shared just before the vampire killed him.

“I was about to deal with him on my own way, but now some officers are already dispatched to track him on the streets. With permission to kill.”

“Your own way?” Soobin arches a brow, resisting the urge to sneer at that, knowing how fucked up this man could go with his ‘punishment’. He could see it from how traumatized Beomgyu was the other day. He mildly wonders whether Beomgyu’s fear for what’s waiting for him also takes part in motivating his escape.

“I’m not going to kill him. It’s hypocritical of me to use my power to make sure that my son is not charged officially for the murders.”

“Wait, what murders?” he cuts off, dread starting to get to him.

“It hasn’t happened yet, but what do you think would happen to him, after escaping like that?”

He gets the point, but perhaps he just doesn’t want to acknowledge it. Beomgyu’s eyes were flashing in different colours. The redness that came with the feral side of him has partaken one of his silver eyes. A sign of madness. It’s obvious just what would happen if he’s let out to the street at that state.

“So… what do you want me to do?” he croaks out finally, eyes finding their way to lock with Myungjoo’s again.

“You know the drill, huh?” The elder vampire laughs. A mix of surprise and amazement. “I want you to find him first. Bring him to me instead of the council.”

“You want me to work outside of the council’s affair.”

“I want you to stay in the council, but work for _me._ ”

The nausea is coming in bigger waves now, crashing against the inside of his abdomen and threatening to climb up his throat. His fingers are clawing on his own knees, willing his legs to stop moving from anxiety.

His gaze only snaps up again as he sees movement on top of the table. The elder vampire is sliding a sleek looking name card towards him, a smile on his lips.

“Why me?” he asks, and the hand halts for a split second as their gazes met again.

“Isn’t it obvious? You’re probably the only one who can find him.”

As much as he wants to trust that Myungjoo is just being a good father figure for Beomgyu by wanting him back unscathed, it’s impossible to do so after seeing the fear in Beomgyu’s eyes last time. This is the man who mercilessly said that his other son deserved to be killed for what he’s done. And if Beomgyu really ended up going on a killing spree, what’s the guarantee that he won’t do the same thing to the poor guy?

Or even worse.

“I will do it.” The words felt foreign as they slip out his mouth, sounding like it comes from far away instead of his own mouth.

Things are going in haze after that. They both stand up and shake hands firmly before Myungjoo leaves him in the room. The CCTV is turned on with a beep, and that’s when Soobin lets his smile fades.

Choi Myungjoo is using his knowledge of his so-called romantic involvement with Beomgyu to find out where the vampire is. There’s no doubt about it.

He will find Beomgyu, alright, but there is no way he is letting the vampire falls into the wrong hand.

==

Kai has worked with a lot of vampires ever since he joined the council. He has even seen a fight closely. The spilled blood mixed with liquor. The stained silver stakes. Agonized screams. After all these, he likes to think that he has seen enough to suppress his fear for the demonized creature.

It probably started that night as he tasted the horror of being bitten by his best friend firsthand. And then it develops further from there, without being addressed.

Perhaps that’s also why he wanted to be one of them. It’s a way to reclaim his own self back from the fear, not wanting to live in such terror after being made aware of another society full of midnight creatures. There is no way he could stay human, knowing that the predators are walking around them inconspicuously.

He thought that he had at least overcome most of his fear and could act normal around the vampires now, but he’s proven wrong as he spots a certain vampire sitting on his porch. The formerly innocent walk to his front door is interrupted by his own yelp as he jumps into the air.

“Kai?”

Now, he would recognize the voice anywhere. He wonders how he didn’t notice the striking red hair that looks out of place in his dark porch. He can only blame it on the turned off lights. That also means nobody is home.

“Taehyun!” he chirps, voice instantly brighter as if the jumpscare never happened. “I thought you were a ghost. This is the first time you’ve ever come to my place ever since we moved to this neighbourhood.”

There’s a flash of guilty in his friend’s face, but it quickly breaks into a soft smile as he pets the tile next to him. For someone who was so angry at Kai the last time they met, this is another unexpected aspect of tonight.

Taehyun shakes his head rapidly before their eyes are finally locked again. “Hueningkai. If we start dating, would you quit aiming for that level in the council?”

“W-what level?” he stammers.

Did he hear that right? Dating? Taehyun and him? It sounds way too good to be true.

“The level where you will be turned into a vampire.”

His eyes darken. “You know I’m only joining for that one purpose. You’re asking for too—“

That’s when he’s interrupted for good now. A pair of hands are reaching out to cup his cheeks just before his words are interrupted by a pair of lips pressing against his. His brain short-circuited, trying to make sense of what’s happening.

It’s a chaste kiss. One with a taste of summer from ten years ago, the first time he saw Taehyun inside the classroom. He can remember rays of sunshine seeped into the classroom from the glass windows, but Kai thought that Taehyun shone brighter than the sun. Now, he could feel the warmth of the sun on his lips through the kiss.

Kang Taehyun is kissing him.

“Will you leave that place and just stay with me,” Taehyun says, words caressing his lips and sending shivers down his spines. He stares into Taehyun’s solemn eyes. He looks like he would break if Kai lets go of his hold around him. At this point, Taehyun could ask him to assassinate people and he would probably do it.

“Tae…”

“I want to leave that place, want nothing associated with the place anymore so, please,” he sounds so broken now. So much pain in his voice that Kai can’t help but to draw the vampire in his arms, burying his face in his hair. “Please stay with me, huening.”

How could he refuse such a desperate request?

They end up inside the house after spending too much time outside, hugging under the dim lighting of the street lamp outside the gate.

His body reacts a little too late. His cold, vampire cheeks are filled with warmth as he thinks of how boldly he leaned in to kiss his _best friend_. What was he thinking? He remembers sitting there, seething from recalling Yeonjun’s words and how the damn vampire was always right. And then the next thing he knew was being trapped inside Kai’s warm embrace.

The worst thing is the realization: it didn’t feel wrong. At all.

It still feels that way, now that he sits behind the countertop in Hueningkai’s kitchen, watching as the owner waltz around the place. He is staring intently at the sleek surface of the counter, only looking up once a mug blocks his way.

“Marshmallows!” Kai smiles brightly as he drops a few familiar rainbow cubes into the cup of thick, sweet liquid. It’s something that they did frequently during sleepovers in each other’s houses. Their moms would make the hot chocolate, and Kai would put a mountain of tiny marshmallows in his mug.

He’s doing it again, right in front of him. A lot of years passed and Kai has grown a lot taller, but nothing changed inside him. He’s still the pure and kind-hearted kid who Taehyun’s fond of.

Then it dawns on him. As Taehyun is sitting there in Hueningkai’s small kitchen; a cup of hot chocolate in between his palms and his best friend smiling at him from across the counter, he realizes that this is the first time he feels _human_ ever since he turned.

His smile quivers as he brings the rim to his lips, taking a small sip of the warm beverage. The liquid filling his mouth only leaves a disappointing aftertaste since he can’t actually taste the sweet. But Kai is staring at him expectantly and he can suddenly remember all the tastes he has forgotten ever since he stopped eating. It’s the familiarity.

Once again, Choi Yeonjun was right.

He needs Kai to stay human, so he needs the guy to stay as a human.

“Kai-ya,” he says, reaching a hand out over the counter.

The human stares at him curiously for a second before he gets the hint, welcoming the hand in his own. The fingers enveloping his provide a new kind of warmth and comfort. Their hands are linking naturally. An innocent, yet intimate gesture.

“Promise me that you would quit the council?” he asks. Doubt dripping from his tone, and then firmed up in the form of his hand tightening its hold around Kai’s. The hesitation in the pair of doe eyes causes his stomach to stir from anxiety. “Please?”

And then Kai smiles reassuringly. “I’ll talk to Yeonjun hyung about it.”

That’s when Taehyun can finally breathe properly again. He just realized that the shadow he seems to be swallowed in his system is caused by his fear of his best friend being trapped in the same situation as he is. It’s okay if it’s him, just not Kai. Not Hueningkai and his smile that radiates warmth and positive energy to people around him.

At least let him be selfish and refuse to have this one thing taken away from his life.

As Taehyun leans in to kiss the chocolate stain away from Kai’s lips, it just dawns on him that maybe, he’s always wanted this. That he just needs a reason, a push.

They’ve been dancing around each other long enough, and he knows that Kai has always looked at him even when he had the love of his life. He had loved Taehyun in his gentle, silent way before finally dropping the confession last year. He waited all this time, only for Taehyun to almost lose his life in a devastating accident. And even as a vampire, Kai is still fighting to be able to stay next to him.

It’s about time for him to realize the signs. Right?

Yet, he can’t help but to think about Yeonjun’s gentle eyes back in the bloody dressing room. The way they hold centuries of sadness and vivid memories of a tragedy.

"Taehyunnie?" Kai calls out at him, snapping him out of his thoughts. A smile is instantly back on his lips. An automatic effect when it comes to his best friend.

That's right. There's no Yeonjun here, only the two of them at last.

Why does Taehyun even care about that mean vampire when everything that he’s ever needed is right here before him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a little break from bloody scenes FINALLY, just in time for blue hour


	13. Chapter 13

Ever since the day he escaped from the council’s building, things haven’t been the same way for Beomgyu, whether it is physically or mentally.

The hold on his sanity is deteriorating faster than his physical form. Even as he is just walking down the street, he can feel himself slipping in and out of his consciousness. Sometimes he still thinks like himself, piecing up plans to secure himself from the white uniformed council officers sent to the streets to hunt him down. Other times, he will black out from the pain of hunger clawing up his throat. And then the next thing he knows is that the hunger is already gone, replaced by the taste of blood on his tongue and a dead body on his feet.

The wound on his chest has recovered completely, and that only scares him even more.

How many people have he killed just to plug up a hole inside his chest?

How many people have he sacrificed just because he wasn’t brave enough to give in to the urge and bite Soobin’s neck?

It’s ironic, since he has always asked for it. Yet it’s also the reason why he fears it.

He fears just how much he wanted it.

In the end, he figures out that he has to feed himself before the other side of him takes over his body to inflict more damage. He hates just how much Soobin has made him guilty last time, that he feels sick to his stomach at the thought of hunting in the alleys again. The least he can do is to be a responsible citizen who takes blood voluntarily instead of stealing from unsuspecting drunk people who try to hit on him.

 _Oh_ , how he is so in for a surprise.

“I hope your officers are not tailing you again. I’m not in the mood to deal with the blonde one,” the girl opens the door for him, excusing him into the apartment room without any attempt to guard herself. How a human could trust vampires so much to let herself be bitten without supervisions such as the ones in the blood bank, Beomgyu can’t understand it. He wouldn’t even trust himself at the moment.

“It’s all good, they are not tailing me anymore,” he says. Not them, probably. Just a bunch of other nameless officers.

“Good. This is why I prefer to work at home. The street is just littered by handsome, yet nosy officers,” she says, sitting on her bed with her leg folded gracefully over another. As she throws her long hair back over her shoulder, Beomgyu’s eyes are instantly fixed on the juncture of her throat. He can already hear the pulsing of blood pumping inside her veins.

When his gaze moves up to catch her gaze again, he’s met with a smug smile. She’s probably enjoying this aspect too, the feeling of being wanted. Needed.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” he hesitates for a bit as he walks up to her. It's embarrassing how he’s supposed to be the predator, yet he is the one who needs to be reassured that it’s okay to feed. Like a little puppy.

“It’s all good. 2 minutes tops, stop once I say so because I’ll know when you already take too much,” she says nonchalantly, unbuttoning the top button of her black blouse to expose more of her neck. More for him to bite. “Besides, you paid more than others. I should have you as my regular.”

The assurance is enough for now. Beomgyu nods like a lost puppy, making his way towards the bed and sits next to her.

“I’m going to bite now,” he warns, earning a laugh from the latter. She is such a pleasant lady, he’d love to have her around even if it’s not for this particular purpose.

But that’s not his focus at the moment. His gaze is fixed on a particular spot on her neck, could almost see the pulsing under her skin, before it’s replaced by his pair of soft lips pressed against her skin as his sharp teeth sunk into her skin. There is a hiss that’s slowly melted into a pleased groan, right onto his ear. Eventually, he can’t hear any response anymore, because he can taste the blood on his tongue, and it takes over his senses.

The carnal desire to _feed_ and claim his prey is overflowing his system, causing the cells in his brain to go haywire with the primal need from his predatory senses.

In the back of his head, he knows that he has to stop anytime soon. He has taken so much, and she would probably charge him more for this. But he wants more. His head is filled with the litany of _more, more, more_ ; mixing with the last bit of his conscience in a cacophony.

When he actually managed to pry his fangs away from her neck, what he witnesses is even worse than what he pictured.

She falls back into the bed right after Beomgyu pulls away. Blood soaking the bed sheet right away, before he can even make sense of the situation. When he spots the big tear on the side of her neck, right where the two puncture wounds should’ve been, that’s when Beomgyu knows that he has fucked up.

The burning in his eyes should have made him aware already that this is _it._

This is the moment he has finally succumbed into his inevitable fate of being a feral vampire. After all, that’s what has been waiting for him all this time. Ever since he accepted the fact that he was born without a mate.

“Kira?” he whispers, before his voice breaks into a small cry as he gets up from the bed and takes a step back, only to crash onto the floor after tripping on his own feet.

There is no answer from the girl, nor does he hear any breathing sound, or the beating of her heart. Still, Beomgyu can’t accept the possibility of someone dying in his hands like this. Which is ironic since he had a record of stealing blood from random people and leaving them to die at some abandoned alleys. Now that he actually sees one of his victims in their lifeless form because of _him_ , it feels even more real.

“No. This is not happening,” he mumbles under his breath, brushing the blood away from the lower side of his face as he stumbles out from the room. He ignores a weird look from the security and apartment’s staff he passed on the way out, hoping that none of them recognized the blood all over him and drag him to the human police office.

It seems like they do, because not long after he stumbles into the street and makes a quick call to the vampire council officer for a victim rescue, he can hear the familiar siren of human police car. His breathing is laboured as he tries to run as far as possible from the crime scene, and finally ends up hiding among the trash cans behind a random convenience store. The sound of siren can still be heard from a distance.

He makes himself smaller, hugging his knees and waiting with his bloody hands and fangs. The sickening warmth of blood on his skin is soon replaced by the stream of his tears, as he rocks himself back and forth to calm himself down, his teeth clamping down onto his own hand, acting like makeshift gag for both his whimper and the urge to bite again.

Because even after taking so much blood, the thirst for blood is still there. Now it’s clawing inside his head like a perpetual nightmare.

He wishes someone will show up right there to end his pain. Kill him, or take him into a pair of comforting arms. There’s a face that comes up in his head at the thought, and he breaks into a small, sad laughter because he just _knows_ that the lilac haired male would definitely pick the former option.

Beomgyu just wishes that he is not taking this long.

==

Judging by how Yeonjun acts like a member of some prestigious secret community with strict law and order, Taehyun expected it to be harder for him to detach himself from the vampires.

It turns out that he believed the old vampire’s threat too much.

Ever since the last time he saw Yeonjun, the day of the devastating attack to Beomgyu, he hasn’t sent in any daily report, or come for his weekly check-in. During his last visit to the blood bank, he has an eye-opening conversation with Min – the girl who watches the front desk of his favourite blood bank.

“So you’re telling me that there’s another way for me to get blood, and I wasn’t informed of this?” he deadpans, repeating the information she’s casually telling him.

Min blinks a few times, head tilted to a side. “I guess it’s not commonly known, but I would have thought that Yeonjun would inform you about it.”

“No.”

Of course not. Choi Yeonjun gives him nothing but a pain in the ass.

“Like I was saying, you can order a blood bag delivery to your address so you don’t have to come here regularly. The price is a little higher than the normal, messy feeding, though. That’s why not many vampires settle for this,” she explains kindly, adding a nonchalant shrug at the end. “Aside from the fact that they also enjoy the biting part.”

The detail makes Taehyun grimace. He could live for the rest of his life without having to sink his teeth into a random human’s skin, if possible. If anything, this arrangement is perfect for him. Another way for him to not be associated with the pretentious vampire community.

“So… is there a way for me to make the arrangement for this blood bag bank?” he smiles, folding his arm over the counter and putting on his best business smile. It earns a positive response from the receptionist. Though it might have something to do with how he’s so ready to spend more money on the blood.

No matter how much it takes, it’s going to worth the money if it means that he can distance himself from these heartless predators.

His heart feels a little lighter when he steps out from the blood bank, in contrast to how he feels usually. Sure, he might have gotten used to taking blood from these volunteering humans, but the whole process still bugs him, making him sick in his stomach even though the blood thirsty side inside him is sated by the warm blood trickling down his throat and spreading through his system.

“I came to pick you up!” the presence of Kai waiting by his car at the parking lot also helps in lightening his mood even more, despite his displeasure of seeing the boy appearing leisurely at vampire-related sites.

Because it only means one thing: Kai’s right to mingle around the secret society hasn’t been revoked, and he is still a part of the council officers.

“You wouldn’t be here if Yeonjun didn’t tell you to go,” Taehyun says pointedly, watching as Kai’s innocent smile morphs into a guilty one, but decided to let it pass for now as he makes a round to enter the driver seat.

Kai casually takes the spot next to him, buckling himself up. He only turns to look at Taehyun when there is no sign of movement. Not from the driver nor the vehicle itself. A sigh escaped his lips when he caught Taehyun’s long stare at him, aware that he can’t possibly escape from this.

“Fine. I was running an errand here. It’s just a simple task, though, since I’m basically downgraded back into a trainee after my last fuck-up. No possibility of being turned anymore!” he sounds too happy for someone who is talking about the chance of losing his life.

Perhaps he just is not aware of the weight of what he is wishing for. For Taehyun, who has gone through the transformation and months of denying what he had become, he wouldn’t wish it upon anyone. Especially not Hueningkai. Now that he is letting himself actually _see_ the boy, he realizes just how protective he can be when it comes to Kai.

Just what has he been doing all these years?

“Okay, just remember our deal. You have to leave the place sooner or later,” he dismisses the topic once he starts driving away from the building, knowing that there is only one destination in mind.

“You want to date me that much? Who would have thought…” there’s a teasing tone in Kai’s voice before it’s dropped the moment Taehyun sends a glare towards him. “Just kidding!”

“I do want to date you.”

It slips past his lips without much thought, answered by silence from the passenger seat. Yet he knows that the latter must be smiling there. Content.

It was a silly agreement Taehyun had thrown to him the night he kissed Kai at the porch of his house, that they can only date once Kai leaves the council officer for good. It's one that might backfire on him. But Taehyun knows that this is his last resort. After knowing the boy for so long, he is fully aware that nothing he says will be able to convince Kai to change his mind.

“Oh, I’m not going back to the council building for the day,” Kai suddenly says when he exits the highway to a familiar road, earning a questioning gaze from the redhead. “The agency. It’s about time I’m taking the photoshoot gigs again.”

There’s hesitation for a second before Taehyun redirects their destination. “And I thought you gave up already. You fired your manager last time.”

“I got a new manager! Besides, I’m thinking of handing in my resignation letter to the council today, so I have to find a new job soon.”

“You’re kidding again.”

The laughter coming from Kai basically confirms his suspicion. It’s only once he halts the vehicle by the lobby of their entertainment agency building that Kai is demanding for his attention again. He pries Taehyun’s hand off the wheel, earning a puzzled look from the redhead.

“You promised. The moment I severe my connection with that world, we’re going to go back to how we were,” the car is suddenly filled by a pensive air from Kai’s gaze on him, making his chest clench with warmth, especially as he brings Taehyun’s hand up and presses a kiss to the back of his palm. His eyes are still fixed against Taehyun’s. “Except this time, you’re actually giving me a chance to love you properly.”

“I promise,” Taehyun says, trying hard not to give away on how nervous he actually is under this much attention.

It’s a good thing for him that Kai switches back to his usual bubbly self a second after, breaking into his bright smile and waving at him before exiting the car. He even throws him an air kiss, making him laugh as he watches the male disappears into the entrance door of the building.

Eventually, the smile fades away the longer he stares at the door, remembering the last time he stormed out of the place blinded by rage after being forced into staying. In the back of his mind, he is aware that no matter what we do, he can’t hide from the reality that he is different now, and that it is going to be his downfall. There is no way to separate his life as a human and vampire, now that the human side of his life is blackmailing him using the very thing he loathes.

But once he gets Kai out of that damned world, there will be one less thing to worry about.

One step at a time.

When he drives away from the place, heading back to his apartment, he is filled with that positive mentality.

It dissipates the moment he steps into the dark place with a foreboding air weighing down his shoulders. There is something wrong. It’s something he gained along with the curse of being a blood-sucker, all the heightened senses, including the ability to sense someone else’s presence in the vicinity.

It’s not like he is scared. He mastered martial arts and his body is built up enough to take down an intruder. Not to mention that he is also a vampire now, which would make it a piece of cake for him to defend himself from a human. He just wishes that this will be ruled out as a self-defense since he is attacked at his own home.

When he enters his bedroom and switches on the lights, he finds out that he’s worrying for nothing.

He gets attacked, alright. But instead of a stranger or a stalker attack like what he initially expected, he’s welcomed by a familiar warmth curling up against his chest. Arms coiling tightly around his waist as he’s knocked down onto the floor. He doesn’t mind it one beat, and his fear is instantly replaced by relief the moment his attacker lifts up his face to peer up at him.

If there’s something that he must fear, it’s the way the familiar round puppy eyes are now glaring in crimson colour. Something that reminds him of those nights he is losing a grip on himself.

Kang Taehyun is sitting on his bedroom floor, with his arms locked around a vampire whom he once called his best friend. The catch is that the vampire is in the verge of losing his mind, and he is crying in his bloody state.

It took a while to clean up all the blood, but the main problem was to calm Beomgyu down. They only succeeded a little later into the night. The vampire is now sitting on the corner of his bedroom, with his blanket tightly wrapped around him as a protective shield from the world.

It’s just sad. Taehyun had been avoiding the guy for so long, and the first time they are sitting in a same room again, it’s because of Beomgyu’s breakdown after he killed someone.

“Hyung,” he breaks the silence first, sitting across the vampire. “Everyone is looking for you.”

Beomgyu scoffs. “I know. They want to kill me.”

“Hyung.”

“I should’ve let them. What was I thinking? I ran away from the facility knowing that I was about to lose my mind, and look what I’ve done?” he lifts up his hands, showing them to Taehyun as if they are still in their blood-stained state from an hour prior. “I actually killed someone, took blood from many others.”

“You didn’t know what you were doing.”

“What if I did? I left, knowing that I was in the verge of going feral. What if I—“

“Hyung,” Taehyun cuts him sharply, reaching out to grab onto Beomgyu’s shoulders and shakes him lightly. That’s the only way he can make the elder look at him. His gaze clears up from the craze of panic for a moment. “I know how it felt. It happened to me when I attacked Kai, and that’s why I can’t blame you for this. It wasn’t you who did it.”

“But it was me! She warned me about taking just a bit and I tore her neck. What if it was just the beginning, Taehyun-ah? What if my existence just served the purpose of killing humans? And that’s why I don’t deserve a mate.”

“I won’t let that happen,” he says firmly, giving a squeeze on Beomgyu’s shoulders and letting go now that he witnesses the broken look disappears from Beomgyu’s eyes. “This time, I’m going to protect you, as well as protecting other people from you.”

The statement takes a while to settle into the vampire’s head, and once it does, Beomgyu can only blink a few times as he looks at the latter. Puzzled.

“You hated me, avoided me for weeks too. What’s with the sudden change. Is it pity?” he presses.

Taehyun looks away, and eventually turns around to give his back towards the latter since he’s still being bugged by questions. But he is not leaving, and that seems to be enough for the other. Once Beomgyu has run out of the question, he repositions himself to sit with his back pressed against Taehyun’s, blanket still drawn over his frame.

“I never hated you,” he says into the dimness of the room. “I avoided you because I felt guilty for what I did to you, especially since I ended up losing it anyway. You went through a lot for a few months just to feed me, and then you still got punished by whatever vampire law you have. All of that just to save my life.”

“It’s not _just_. I would do it over and over again,” Beomgyu mumbles. His voice too quiet and blending into the calming silence of the room. It sounds like he could fall asleep anytime soon.

“I never said this, but thank you, Beomgyu hyung.”

“Hm?”

“Thank you for not giving up on me.”

It’s the most embarrassing, and also the most truthful thing he has ever said to the other. For a few moments, there is no answer, and it takes a lot for him not to run away out of shame.

And then he hears it, the soft, regular interval of Beomgyu’s breathing. The weight leaning against his back just confirms his suspicion that the other male has fallen asleep while he is opening up to him for once about his feelings. At least he has calmed down and Taehyun managed to say what he has been too prideful to admit. Whether Beomgyu heard it or not, that’s his problem.

Taehyun’s problem right now is just on how to keep his vampire friend safe and well-fed in his nearly feral state. Now that he is keeping a _wanted_ vampire in his home, Taehyun realizes that he has taken a few steps backwards from his plan to distance himself from the vampire world.

==

Today’s visit to the council office feels heavier than any other day, as if they were not already hard for Kai. But today, he is planning to hand in his resignation letter after holding it off for too long and facing his vampire almost-boyfriend’s nagging about it. He could already tell that Yeonjun will be overjoyed by having him gone. At least he is taking Taehyun along with him when he goes.

And Beomgyu, he would be so happy to hear this. Too bad he has no way to contact the hyung anymore.

What irks him is that Yeonjun doesn’t seem fazed when he pushes the letter forward. He just glances at it before looking back up at Kai.

“Today is your last day, then.”

He blinks a few times. “I was thinking that I’m already freed the moment I hand in the letter. Do I have to do something else?”

“We have this one month notice rule, so technically you can’t even stop until next month,” Yeonjun says with a nonchalant shrug. “But you’re still a trainee, so I’m letting you off with just one day. Shouldn’t you be thanking me?”

There he is again with his superiority complex. It takes him a lot to force a smile on his lips. “Sure thing. Thank you, hyung! It’s been nice working under your supervision even though you give me a lot of unrelated tasks.”

A roll of eyes. “You’ll go with Soobin today, then.”

“What’s new?”

“In five minutes.”

He barely managed to catch the paper plane flew towards him. Scribbled over it is an address. As he looks back at Yeonjun, he is already looking at his computer screen again. Kai is sure that the vampire is just playing an online game behind the façade of working hard. This is one of the reasons he can’t take these vampires seriously.

As he turns around to go, his steps are halted by the door as Yeonjun’s voice speaks out again. “You actually have so much potentials, and you’re good at what you’re doing. It’s not your skill that makes this not a suitable place for you, Hueningkai.”

“I understand.”

No. He actually does not understand. He is still questioning it even as he exits the office and walks away. Why is Yeonjun praising him, as if he had expected this would happen anytime soon? He has never actually praised him during the months long of training either. It might have to do with their huge age gap that makes it hard for him to understand the vampire. He should stop questioning what’s in the ancient mind of his.

Even as he comes into that conclusion, he’s still worrying about it. That’s shown from how he’s ripping a part of the paper plane into shreds on his way to find Soobin. The male is still resting in one of the holding cells. He looks completely healed from the ‘attack’ he experienced.

Having your crush going feral and almost killing you? Relatable.

“We got an assignment from Yeonjun hyung,” he announces as he enters the place, putting on the biggest smile he has for the day.

Soobin slowly looks up at him, then at the paper plane which is almost ruined already from his habit to tear small pieces of paper when his hands are idle. Thankfully, the address is still salvageable. The way Soobin’s eyes darken upon seeing the scribble almost made him want to apologize profusely, but then the vampire looks up and smiles at him, and suddenly Kai remembers why Choi Soobin might be his favourite vampire out of everyone else.

“Let’s go, Kai-ya.”

To his last assignment while playing action game with these vampires.

==

The first sign of Beomgyu comes in an address scribbled over a messy excuse of a paper plane. It’s a way too familiar address. A place he’s found himself visiting too many times.

Soobin questioned it at first, but he understands the moment he enters the room.

Lying in the middle of the bloody bed, is a familiar girl with her slick long black hair shining under the glinting warm light of the room. Soobin has met her a lot before, catching her in the middle of being fed on and getting chased away by her nagging because _“Officer! It’s a totally voluntary feeding. Stop getting in the way of my business!”_

He’s seen Kira a lot, associated her with the stench and sight of crimson blood, but never _this_ much blood.

Aside from the galloons that have been taken away from her body, the rest is spilled atop her flowery bed sheet. The vampire who did this was a messy eater, probably blinded by hunger with how they ripped onto her neck, tragically ending her life that way before all the blood could be drained from her system.

Soobin wishes that he can rule it out as a newborn vampire attack, if only he wasn’t so nosy, flipping through her planner as he lets Kai deal with the cleanup team. He wishes that he stays ignorant even as he enters the room to a mix of blood and lavender scents. He wishes that he is not reading Beomgyu’s name listed on her planner for today’s appointment.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happened in that room.

Soobin could visualize it almost vividly, how Beomgyu started off by holding onto the last bit of his sanity, and then lost it in the middle of his feeding. He could imagine how the vampire just fed and fed, until he snapped out of it. Only to realize that it was too late.

He’s sure that Beomgyu was the one who called in on the emergency, just like how he always did it when he used to find his prey in the alleys near his favourite nightclubs. Except this time, his victim is already dead on his hands.

If Beomgyu gets caught, he will be tried and charged. Even with death, if he keeps this feeding spree going on.

And then his blood will be on Soobin’s hands. He’s the one who made this happen when he lets the vampire slips through his hands.

When he slips the small notebook into the inside pocket of his blazer, he is not sure if it’s because of his guilt of letting the vampire go, his own feelings, or Beomgyu’s father request. This is the uptight Choi Soobin who always goes by the rules, wanting everyone to get punished according to the law. The same Choi Soobin who tried to arrest the very same vampire twice and vowed to get him tried by the council for his actions.

Just how much has changed now? That he ends up bending all his principles and rules for the guy who he claimed to bring disarray into his days.

The book feels heavy in his pocket as he walks out of the room, completing the investigation without submitting any significant detail that could let the case be associated with a certain vampire in any way. He can only breathe again the moment he steps out of the building completely, sitting on the steps heading to the lobby and breathing in cold air into his lungs.

“Hyung,” Kai’s voice rips through the toxic thoughts in his head. He feels a foreign smile forming on his lips when he looks up at the rookie. “It’s Beomgyu hyung, isn’t it?”

That hits home. Soobin feels an intense pain in his chest at the mention of the name. It’s one thing to suspect, but it’s an entirely different feeling to have someone else confirming him for it.

“How do you know?”

“Because that’s why Yeonjun hyung made me tag along. He wants me to see what I would turn into if I keep being stubborn.”

Soobin scoffs, thinking about Yeonjun’s cruel way in giving a training to the rookie under his education. Perhaps it also applies to Soobin. He is being punished again because of what he’s done to Beomgyu. Now that the pureblood has gone feral, he is expected to clean up after his mess.

And perhaps more.

“Hyung,” Kai calls out to him again. He doesn’t look up this time, knowing that he wouldn’t like what comes next judging from the pensive tone in the human’s voice. “Are you really going to kill Beomgyu hyung when you see him?”

The silence is dragged for a beat too long before the numbness in his tongue disappears, finally letting the words slip past his lips. “It’s not like we can randomly kill a criminal, Huening-ah. You still have a lot to learn, huh?” he passes it off as a joke, reaching out to ruffle his soft hair.

“You killed that vampire back then. Right under my nose!”

“It was self defense!”

Kai rolls his eyes, shaking his head rapidly to let his hair fall back into place after being messed up. “Okay, let’s say the situation turns out that way. Would you pull out your stake and kill Beomgyu hyung the same way you did to his brother?”

It might be the grimness of the topic, or the way the human looks at him with firm eyes full of challenge mixed with curiosity that sends chill down Soobin’s spines. It’s as if he is facing the choice already, as if Beomgyu is already there, with blood dripping from his lips and stuck under his nails. He has killed other feral vampires in his line of work, so it shouldn’t be so different when it comes to this one.

Especially if he has actually lost his mind. There’s no way to get it back.

“I don’t have a choice, right?” he throws another smile at Kai before he gets up, walking away before he can get bombarded with more questions.

When he is alone again inside his parked car, sitting behind the wheel with his eyes closed, he can only hear Beomgyu’s voice ringing inside his head, repeating over and over again like a broken record.

_“Please find me and kill me.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello happy comeback week!


	14. Chapter 14

All his life, Taehyun has acted a lot.

Even before he started his career, he constantly lived his day under the pretense of being this perfect guy who has his whole life figured out. That’s how everyone relied on him to be the mature one for his age, and people always love that he can be calm and composed even under pressure. But everything is the work of his perfect acting.

He just never thought that his acting skill would fail him at the most crucial time. A moment of life and death.

It comes as a visit early in the morning. An incessant ringing of his door bell that annoys him as he drags his feet towards the front door. When the face of the visitor shows up at the intercom by the door, it jolts him awake at once. Eyes wide as they stare at the closed door.

“Kang Taehyun, I know you’re inside.”

It’s Choi Yeonjun, standing before his door with the most irritated look in his face.

Judging from the few experiences he had during his ‘probation’ stage with the vampire, this is the face Yeonjun has when he has to work overtime instead of sleeping at home when the sun comes up. Now that the guy is at his apartment, Taehyun’s brain is starting to think of ways to drive him away before he could storm inside the place and see the most wanted nearly feral pureblood sleeping in his bedroom.

This must be how Beomgyu felt when he was hiding the truth about Taehyun from his officer.

How the tables have turned.

“I can hear you behind this door, newborn. If you don’t open up in three seconds, I will knock the door off its hinge,” Yeonjun is staring straight at him through the intercom camera this time, and as much as Taehyun refuses to back down, the vampire had done it before, and he would totally do it again. “Three…”

He punches on a button to unlock the door before Yeonjun can go any further with his countdown, swallowing down his pride when he opens the door to be greeted by a derisive smirk from the vampire.

“What do you want?” he snaps, stepping forward to block the way in before Yeonjun can enter the place.

“No daily check-in, no appointments in the blood bank. Do you know how much trouble I’d get if you went off the grid and I suddenly find you keeping some blood slaves in your place?”

Taehyun scoffs. “Really now, blood slaves?"

“Okay maybe not that far,” the guy shrugs nonchalantly, craning his neck to peek over his shoulder into the place. “There’s someone inside, though. How do I know you didn't kidnap an innocent human?”

He pushes Yeonjun off with his shoulder when the vampire tries to get past him again. “It’s my boyfriend,” he spits out, cursing himself mentally as soon as the words escaped his lips. He hasn’t even made it official with Kai yet, nor did the guy ever slept at this new apartment. He just hopes there’s no cross checking done between the two. For now, he just needs to keep going with the lie. “He sleeps shirtless, so I really don’t want you to come in and see him like that.”

“And how do I trust you on that? Just call the kid out here.”

A flare of annoyance sparks inside him. For some reasons, it bothers him that the vampire doesn’t trust him. “I don’t want to. Besides, I don’t think I need your supervision anymore at this point.”

Yeonjun looks ready to fight him on that, but he’s faster. It’s a complicated process in the beginning, but now that he has gotten the hang of it, it’s easier for him to will the energy and adrenaline to his eyes.

Glaring at the guy, he feels the familiar burn in his eyes. And he knows that Yeonjun is seeing what he’s been seeing in the mirror for the past few days. Based on the burn he feels on the pair of orbs, he knows that they are flashing in their dim silver colour. Not quite as bright as Beomgyu’s, but it’s still something more reassuring than looking into the mirror and staring at a pair of crimson eyes.

This is also the reason why he’s convinced he doesn’t need Yeonjun anymore.

“Since when?”

He shrugs. “A few days ago. I—“

His words stop abruptly on the tip of his tongue when he hears movements from inside the flat, then the door from his bedroom is being opened. Beomgyu just can’t pick any worse time to wake up. In reflex, he shoves Yeonjun out of the place, slamming the door close right in front of his face. It’s automatically locked, leaving the other guy smacking the wood in annoyance.

“What the fuck, Taehyun?”

“Give me three minutes! I’ll do whatever you want me to do for the check-in, just… three minutes!” he says before sprinting back into the flat. He caught Beomgyu by surprise when he shoves the guy back into the bedroom, jolting him up from his groggy state. He only whispers in a hushed tone in explanation. “It’s Yeonjun.” and Beomgyu sits back on the bed without any further complain while he changes his clothes and grabs his important things to go.

“Is he here for me?” Beomgyu asks just as he’s about to run back out, fearing that Yeonjun might get sick of waiting and randomly decided to break down his door again.

He stops on his track. “Not yet. But he might, if you roam around the street again and leave traces that lead to this place so, _please_ , Beomgyu hyung, can you just stay here, please?”

Beomgyu’s shoulders fall in a mix of guilt and dejection, knowing that he puts both of them in danger by still going out to hunt. It makes Taehyun’s chest clench, knowing just how hard it is to for the pureblood to restrain himself, especially since now he has to feed through blood bag and hates every second of it. But he wants his hyung to survive.

“I’m sorry, Taehyun. I’ll stay here. Promise!” Beomgyu smiles reassuringly.

That puts the redhead at ease, and he finally has strength to face the other pureblood whom he kept waiting at the door. He knows that he’s going to receive some nagging session, so he’s quick to interrupt, signing for Yeonjun to follow him.

“I’ll answer all your questions."

Working your mind under pressure is harder than you’d probably think of. Especially when the pressure comes in the form of an angry blond vampire who keeps stealing glare at you from the driver seat even when he gives truthful answers to the interrogation. At least without mentioning Beomgyu.

“You’re hiding something,” Yeonjun presses again. “Do I have to give you the benefits of the doubt or should I just kill you right here under the assumption that you’re guilty after attacking a human?”

"Kill me then," he snaps, refusing to break under the pressure that he _has_ to break the pressure first. Step on it. Show this old vampire that he can't be intimidated anymore. Though there is intimidation when Yeonjun glances at him and looks like he is actually going to do it. He doesn't doubt that the elder can do it with one hand still kept on the steering wheel, probably without batting an eye.

"You're getting brave."

"The fact that you agreed to drive me to work only means that you've chosen the former option anyway."

Yeonjun scoffs, but not saying anything for the rest of the drive until they get to their destination.

It’s his company building. The suffocating place Taehyun is confined in.

As the car comes into a halt by the front of the lobby, Taehyun steps out first, bending over to peek at the latter with his arms folded over the window of the passenger seat.

“I thought you’re going to follow me around wherever I go today.”

“Do I look like someone who got that much time to spare?” the vampire scoffs. “You didn’t go feral, so you’re the least of my worry right now.”

That comes as a surprise, to the point that Taehyun can only stay here, blinking a few times at the latter.

“Is it because of my eyes? That’s the indication?”

“Pretty much. Congrats for passing the actual trial,” Yeonjun says, a lazy smile plastered on his lips as he tilts his head to a side.

Taehyun should be happy now that he is freed from having Yeonjun breathing down his neck these past few months. He can actually stop reporting to the guy without Yeonjun turning up randomly at his place to kick down his door. But for some reasons, as he returns the cocky smile with one of his own, he feels a little tug inside his chest. Is that loss? Does he actually miss being yelled at by this beautiful vampire with a superiority complex?

That’s luckily when his attention is grabbed by a particular male he sees walking into the front gate of the company and towards the lobby. He grabs on Yeonjun’s shirt, pulling him down so he won’t be too exposed to everyone else, earning a curious yet annoyed look from him.

“Remember that man?” he gestures to the male, which is his shitty excuse of a manager. “The only reason I’m still taking this job is because he’s blackmailing me.”

Yeonjun throws him a look. Confused yet intrigued. Probably not sure why he’s suddenly telling him this, as if the vampire is supposed to care. So before he can retort, Taehyun keeps going.

“He has a CCTV footage of that day I attacked him and you stopped me from causing more harm on him. So yeah, in case I decided to not care anymore and you see yourself all over the news site or the internet.”

“Wait, what? CCTV camera in a dressing room?”

“Yeah, fucked up, right?” he laughs, finally releasing his grip on Yeonjun’s shirt, only to have his hand grabbed again before he could pull away.

“Why didn’t you tell me? We have protocols when it comes to dealing with this kind of stuff.”

Taehyun shakes his head. “The CEO is in on this too, and god only knows who else. I’d rather just stay here than going through all the troubles. Unless I snap and start going on a killing spree to get rid of everyone…” he trails off, about to break into a smile when he spots Yeonjun’s tensed jaws. Not something to joke about. Got it.“Just kidding. I won’t.”

But his hand is still not released yet, even as he tries to tug it away and a car behind them is honking at them for staying there for too long. He throws a questioning look at the latter, not liking the intimidation wafting out of the feline eyes towards him.

“Hey, are you going to be alright?” he asks. It sounds like he actually cares.

He opens his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, he’s jerking his hand away from the grip upon hearing a familiar voice calling out to him. He spots Hueningkai by the entrance door, waving at him with a bright smile.

One look at Yeonjun’s face and he knows that he’s in danger. That the gears in Yeonjun’s head are turning, and before long he would start to get suspicious on how Kai got to the company first when he should have been at the apartment.

“I have to go. You have nothing to worry about,” Taehyun says, offering a smile towards the male and turning around to go before Yeonjun can say anything else.

He makes a little run towards Kai who’s staring at the car curiously, hooking his arm around the taller male’s and dragging him back into the building. He doesn’t need a dating scandal amongst all the things he has to deal with at the moment.

“Was that Yeonjun hyung?” Kai asks. “I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“Yeah, he came to my place to see if I had killed someone.”

“I should probably say hi.”

Kai cranes his neck as he turns to look behind him through the glass entrance door, only to be yanked away by the redhead, straight into the elevator that just opened in the lobby. Nice timing.

“No, you can’t. I kind of used you as an excuse. Saying that it was you who were in my room earlier today so he wouldn’t come inside.”

That earns an arch of eyebrow from the male. “Me? Are you saying that someone else was inside your bedroom?”

“Possibly.”

Silence engulfs them as the elevator carries them up to the floor where the artist lounge is, only as they step out into a quieter corridor that Taehyun noticed the other’s gaze never left him, making him fidget a little with the sleeves of his cardigan before he whips his own back at Kai.

“What, are you jealous?”

“Yes,” Kai blurts out, taking him aback since he didn’t expect such honesty. Then again, the boy has always been honest about his feelings and Taehyun’s always the one acting like he’s so dense. “We’re dating. Shouldn’t I be concerned that you have someone in your apartment that’s not me?”

There’s a pout on the younger’s face, and it surprises even him that he doesn’t feel an ounce of annoyance. Only fondness. “First of all, we are not dating. Not yet.”

The smile is back on Kai’s face, reminding him of a little puppy that’s easily distracted. But he cares about Kai’s feelings, and since he was bugged about it, Taehyun decided to confide him in, leaning in to whisper into the taller’s ear.

“Second, it was Beomgyu hyung.”

“What?” Kai blinks a few times when he pulls away.

“He’s staying at my place right now,” he says, avoiding the gaze thrown at him. He doesn’t know how the younger would take it, especially after their promises to stay away from the vampire world. But now he has a wanted vampire staying in his place, and it might come as a betrayal seeing how Kai resigned from the council for him. The worries just piled up higher when Kai doesn’t answer immediately. Not even showing a reaction on his face. “I just… I owe him a lot. This is the least I can do for him, Kai-ya. Can we go back to liking Beomgyu hyung as one of us?”

He extends his hand, tugging on the front of the male’s shirt. That’s when Kai’s expression softens. A soft sigh escaping past his lips.

“I know. I’m actually happy that he is okay, you know?” he smiles, gathering the vampire into his arms.

As he hides his face on Kai’s shoulder, nose pressed to his shirt, Taehyun thinks that perhaps he has made the best decision trusting his heart to this boy.

==

As an extrovert who gathers his energy from interacting with other people, it’s already hard for Beomgyu to stay still inside a confined space. Now that he has a feral vampire within him that is ready to jump out into the street and attack a human, it’s getting even harder to keep himself glued to this couch.

The blood bags Taehyun shared with him does help, but he knows that he will lose this battle against himself anytime soon. It’s inevitable, with how his predatory urge is getting stronger, crawling under his skin like an itch he cannot scratch. Biting into plastic bags don't really help in that aspect.

It’s at times like this, when he is left alone in silence, that he knows he starts losing his grip on himself. He can already visualize himself walking out of that door and into the street. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. So he focuses his mind on something else. The flashes of his photographs being taken to be placed in the cover of some teen magazines. The smell of his favourite lavender scented candle. The sound of laughter from the kids at the orphanage.The flash of gentle, yet deadly lilac eyes.

He’s violently jerked out of his thoughts when the doorbell ring, jumping up from the sofa and almost knocking the little trinkets Taehyun kept as a decoration. He stares intently at the door while slowly walking towards it, his expectation ranges from it being Taehyun who had forgotten his key or a troop of council officers waiting by the door to arrest him.

His body is tensed all over as he walks closer to it, filled with the instinct to fight or flight. When he spots a familiar face displayed on the intercom, his shoulders sagged in a mix of relief and disappointment.

The betrayal of disappointment that it's not a certain vampire officer coming to kill him.

“Beomgyu hyung, you’re inside, right?” the visitor calls out to him just as he was about to turn around and walk away from the door, thinking that he was only there to visit Taehyun. It’s none other than Huening Kai and he knows the vampire is inside, invading Taehyun’s living space like he has all the right to do that.

He doesn’t respond, staring at Kai who is still staring stubbornly at the camera. His eyes wide.

He’s a part of the council, he can’t possibly be here to…

“Hyung, please? I just want to see with my own eyes that you’re still alive,” he says, as if knowing that Beomgyu is listening on the other side of the door. “I quit the council. I realized it’s not my place in that world, but I really want to stay friends with you and Taehyunnie. Can’t we just go back to how it was before? The three of us. Best friends.”

He doesn’t know if it’s Kai’s desperate expression or his words that tempted Beomgyu to change his mind, but before he knows it, he is looking at his trembling hand coming up to press on a button which unlocks the door. The door swings open, and his back meets the floor in a very warm ‘attack’ from an oversized little human.

“Yah, Kai, if I didn’t know better, I’d think that you’re keeping me down so I won’t run away before the council people swarm this place.”

Kai pays no mind to his accusation, keeping his arms locked around the vampire until Beomgyu feels all the tension melts away from his body. The boy always has this effect on him and everyone else he meets. A blessing.

The hug lasts for a little too long than normally. They only separate from each other because Beomgyu insists they should close the door before someone else caught a sight of him. When he comes back from doing exactly that, Kai is already making himself at home, rummaging through the cupboards for anything edible.

“Everything is already expired… well, whatever.”

That’s how they end up like this, with Hueningkai snacking on some expired froot loops while sitting on a kitchen stool and staring at Beomgyu who is tugging on the sleeves of his sweater to cover his fingers. As if the human can still see the stain of blood he had all over his hands from a week prior.

“So… you quit the council,” Beomgyu starts, trying to break the ice. “Did something happen?”

“Nothing much. Yeonjun hyung did make me visit a murder scene of this lady who got attacked by a feral vampire, though.”

Beomgyu tensed at once. The pieces of memories from that night coming back to him in a quick series of flashes, making him lightheaded that he has to step back. He’s only getting back into his senses as Kai steers him to sit on the couch.

“Did that scare you off?” he managed to croak out, staring at Kai’s impassive face. Talking about murder as if he is talking about a new movie series or ice cream place.

“I already knew that it was you, so it became less scary,” he says, adding quickly when Beomgyu throws him a confused look. “Soobin hyung found out first.”

Ever since he escaped from that building and leaving the vampire dead on the floor, he has refrained from thinking about Soobin. Now that Kai mentioned his name, it’s becoming more real to Beomgyu, the problem he is trying to avoid.

The fact that he is just hanging around the city because of a certain someone who holds him back.

“Hyung, he is going to kill you.”

Beomgyu looks up at that. The space between them is suddenly filled with foreboding air, taking away all the oxygen and making it hard for him to breathe despite this not being a news for him.

“Is that so?” he laughs, tipping his head back in feigned amusement.

“Shouldn’t you run away?”

“I told him to do it, Kai-ya. It’s okay—“

“It’s not okay!”

The increase of volume causes Beomgyu’s smile to melt away from his face. He straightens up on his seat, blinking a few times as he stares at Kai who is towering over him now. A crease between his eyebrows and concern in his eyes.

“Kai…”

“Hyung, I like you a lot, okay? You’re not supposed to die first since you’re a vampire,” he says, almost making Beomgyu smile again because of his pure way of delivering his concern. It’s one of his favourite things about the kid. But the warm feeling disappears the moment he speaks again. “Besides, Taehyun wouldn’t take it well if you die. He’s just barely made it out of his danger zone of being a feral.”

Beomgyu chews on his lower lip, knowing that he’s right. “He’s strong, Kai.”

“I know, but not enough,” the human says with a sigh before heaving himself onto the couch next to Beomgyu, who bounces a little from the impact of his weight. “Remember how you didn’t want me to join the council because you didn’t want me to be in danger? It’s the same for me.”

“Hey, I’m stronger than you,” he jokes, nudging Kai on his side only to get a straight look from the younger.

“Are you going to fight Soobin hyung if he ever finds you, then?”

Now, that makes him shut up. His lips pressed together in a thin line. Sure, he had told the guy to come kill him, but is he really going to go down without a fight? Won’t his feral side take over? He has always thought that he’s stronger than the purple haired vampire, but is he really, when he got saved by the guy both times they were engaged in a deadly fight?

Shaking all the thoughts away from his head, Beomgyu opts to switch the topic instead. “Kai-ya, did you ever hate me for making Taehyun this way?”

There’s a moment of silence, followed by a sigh and a light thud on his shoulder as Kai rests his head there.

“I did hate you in the beginning, and then even more when I learned more about your world. But then I realized that not all of you are bad.”

“Ouch?” Beomgyu jokes. “Deserved, I think.”

“You saved Taehyun’s life too, so I owe you my life, hyung. Even though you’re ruining our plan to keep Taehyun away from the vampires now,” he snorts, clearly saying it as a joke, though unaware of the stone that’s materialized inside Beomgyu’s stomach at the information.

“Keeping Taehyun what?”

“He has severed contacts with the council and blood bank for a while, I think that’s how he got himself back, not sure how vampire psychology works,” Kai shrugs. “Then you showed up and Yeonjun hyung showed up too. I just don’t want Soobin hyung to be the next one who shows up at the doorway.”

He really means it well, Beomgyu knows that, judging from his lighthearted tone and the smile playing on his lips. But it can’t help but to set the vampire at unease. The knowledge that he might be staying here at the cost of risking Taehyun’s sanity. The guy has suffered enough ever since he knew and befriended Beomgyu, and now he is once again messing up with Taehyun’s agenda by showing up unannounced as something more dangerous than he was last time.

Even Kai’s cheerful voice lost its ability to penetrate past the icy cloud inside Beomgyu’s head right now. He is not sure when and how Kai excused himself from the premise, but the next thing he knows is that he is sitting alone in Taehyun’s living room. His blood is dripping onto the carpet from how hard he is clenching his fists to the point of clawing his own palms.

He remembers the car accident, how the car that he drove was thrown out of the side of the road. He remembers the burning stench in the air mixed with blood and anguish, how he died inside seeing Taehyun’s state on the passenger seat, thinking that he was dead. He remembers the relief he felt when he dragged the human out of the wreckage, making an impulsive decision to turn him into a vampire right there.

He remembers Taehyun writhing and screaming from the painful turn he experienced after Beomgyu fed him his blood. He remembers seeing something died inside Taehyun’s eyes when Beomgyu told him that he couldn’t save Hyejoo. How his eyes stayed dead for the whole funeral and a few months afterwards. He remembers Taehyun’s pain every time he refuses to drink his blood, only to give in moments later and cry once he’s done.

He is going to bring danger to Taehyun’s life once again.

Just how bad of a friend will Choi Beomgyu turn into?

==

“You seem to drink a lot for someone who doesn’t know its actual taste.”

Yeonjun is not looking up when Soobin slides on the stool next to him, swivelling around to have his back facing the bar. This way, he can look at the interior of the bar. This is one of Yeonjun’s favourites and that’s how he found the elder when he’s not in his office.

“Not like you have tried it anyway, you couldn’t afford it when you were alive,” the blonde spits back, tilting his head backwards as he downs the shot glass. “Besides it’s the burn that I like. Almost the same sensation as when you’re drinking blood.”

That is all vampires could taste from alcohol, and for some reasons, vampires like Yeonjun tend to enjoy it a lot. Perhaps it has something to do with the boredom of consuming only a single thing for decades or centuries. There is not even a calming effect or intoxication given to their bodies by any amount of alcohol they consumed.

So it just confuses him, that Yeonjun would waste his time downing all these shot glasses as an attempt to fix his mood. He would never admit it, but one look at the elder’s face and Soobin knows that he won’t want to get on his bad side for the rest of the day.

“Is everything alright?” he asks. “I guess you’ve been working too hard, hyung.”

“I can’t believe you’re the one saying that to me,” the vampire scoffs, giving him a side look. “Do you need a break, Soobin? I’ve received some complaints about you from other divisions. Slacking in reports. Not answering to their summons. It’s so unlike you.”

Soobin stays quiet for a bit, biting down on his lower lip, only to blink in confusion when the elder continues.

“But fuck them, they can deal with it on their own.”

“Huh? Aren’t you here to scold me? Fire me?”

That earns him a sneer from the blonde. “No, I just want to know what you’ve been up to these days. Trying to find out whether you’re really fed up with us or it’s just a phase.”

A sigh. “I’ve just been occupied with something else, and I know that I haven’t been the best at doing my work, but I will do better, hyung. My head is just not in the right place these days.”

“Do you want to take a leave, Soobin? You’ll have more time to look for him that way.”

So he knows what Soobin has been up to, and he is offering a way around it instead of lashing out at the officer. It’s something that he hadn’t expected to see from Yeonjun. The guy is always so strict with work ethics, shouting at people and firing people here and there. It makes him feel worse, that he can’t live up to his expectations these days.

Now, _he_ needs that alcohol.

Turning around on his seat, he calls for the bartender, asking for the same drink that the latter had earlier. He lets the substance burns down his throat. The effect settles down in his chest, as if replacing the heavy weight he’s been carrying.

Is this why people like to drink? A misdirection tactic to not feel the pain anymore.

“It’s not necessary anymore, hyung. I think it’s about time I stop searching,” he says, smile as bitter as the leftover taste on his tongue.

When he turns to look at the blonde again, he is taken aback by the pair of eyes staring straight at him. It’s intimidating as always to be stared down like this, but this time it’s with a sense of sadness. He must have done something right, to make the Choi Yeonjun empathize with him.

Or just pathetic.

“Soobin, have you ever thought that you might not be looking at the right places?”

He arches a brow at this. “What do you mean?”

Yeonjun waves him off, not giving him a straight answer. Even as he takes his coat and leaves the place. The only thing he’s left with, sitting there in contemplation for what feels like hours, is a name Yeonjun gave to him just before he left.

_Kang Taehyun._

The owner of the name doesn’t seem too happy to see him loitering around by the entrance of his apartment complex.

It’s not odd that he would be displeased, especially seeing how Soobin is still clad in his council officer’s uniform and the newborn’s experience with them was never a good one. He wonders if Taehyun knows that Soobin was also the one who made Yeonjun come for him that disastrous night.

“Hey, I’m Soobin,” he approaches the redhead, ignoring the hostile look thrown at him as he follows into the building. The male doesn’t even bother to stop to respond to him. “And, uh, I’m looking for someone.”

That’s a bad one. He should’ve arranged his request better during the two hours he spent waiting for the guy outside the building. But one look at the redhead’s face, and he knows that the guy knows just _who_ is he referring to.

“Why do you think I’d tell you his whereabouts even if I know?”

“Because I’m his friend too,” he offers, shutting up instantly at the glare delivered his way.

“We also know that you arrested him twice. You’d just haul him back to your rotten building again. When that’s not what he needs right now.”

That moment, the elevator door slides open, but Soobin steps forward to block Taehyun’s way when he’s about to step in, making the newborn suck a breath between his teeth in annoyance.

“And what do you think he needs right now?” he asks, desperation starts to seep out from within his voice.

The question seems to take the vampire aback for a second. He barely has knowledge about the vampire world, let alone about how to deal with a feral vampire when he just narrowly missed being one himself. Soobin appreciates it, that he appears to take it seriously, a frown on his visage as he turns his brain for an answer to the impossible question.

An impossible one, because Soobin is not even sure on what he could do for Beomgyu at the moment. He doesn’t know how far gone the vampire is already into his feral state.

“I’m in love with him,” he suddenly blurts out, surprising the both of them. A hand comes up to cover his own mouth after the traitorous information it slipped out.

Taehyun gives him a long look before exhaling a frustrated sigh. A hand coming up to mess with his red locks as he goes through that short moment of conflicts.

“Enough to not kill him the first chance you get?”

The question made him bite onto his tongue. That’s the wrong question. Taehyun should be questioning whether he loves Beomgyu enough _to_ kill him the first chance he gets. And that’s why he doesn’t have any answer for the test. Not when Beomgyu wanted him to do it in the first place.

He doesn’t have to answer, since Taehyun is the one giving in, exhaling a sigh. “If you are the Soobin hyung Beomgyu always mentioned, I think there’s no choice other than to trust you. He never mentioned that you actually returned his feelings though.”

Taehyun side steps him the moment the elevator dings open again, occupying the metal box and staring at him when Soobin doesn’t move an inch. “Are you coming?”

That’s his cue to move his legs. They grow heavier with every step he takes. And as they ascend through the levels, the weight in his chest that was eased up by the burning alcohol is materializing once again.

Is this it? The ending of his futile weeks of searching?

At this moment, he just realized he never had any plan on what to do when he sees Choi Beomgyu again. He has almost forgot how it was to interact with the guy. Only remembering the way the silver glint in his eyes took his breath away the first night they met, and how his heart beat against his palm that one time under the warm morning sun.

He hadn’t thought of the possibility of Beomgyu being completely consumed by his feral side, to the point of no return.

“Wait here,” Taehyun warns as they got behind a door. He disappears into the flat after punching in a series of numbers.

What if Beomgyu didn’t recognize him anymore? What if the vampire behind this door is someone completely different from the one he knows? What if the Choi Beomgyu he knew is already dead that day, leaving only the empty vessel filled with the most predatory urge of a vampire?

Would he be able to kill him then?

When the door beeps open again, he has prepared himself for the worst. But not this.

Not Taehyun’s panicked face as he opens the door wide and disappears back into his apartment. A piece of paper clutched in a hand when Soobin follows him.

“He’s not here,” he says, concern and horror filled his face. “Beomgyu hyung left.”

As a warm sense of relief spreads through his system, it’s also accompanied by hatred for himself. Soobin hates himself for being happy that he doesn’t have to face Beomgyu right now despite having been searching for a while.

It just confirms the fact that he will never be able to use his stake against Choi Beomgyu.

He is going to fail Beomgyu’s last wish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, if you're interested in commissioning me to write, please check it out [here](https://twitter.com/soogyulvr/status/1322388982727020544) <3


	15. Chapter 15

It’s in the middle of a photoshoot session when Kai gets the news of Beomgyu disappearing from Taehyun’s place.

He tried hard to be his professional self, especially with this vampire themed photoshoot where he had to act all cold and intimidating. The whole four hours of the photoshoot were amusing, especially since he had seen actual vampires and they do not dress like him – this high collared dark coat and lacy dress shirts. Or maybe they did. He just has to confirm it to Beomgyu. Except Beomgyu is not reachable anymore.

And it will be Kai’s fault for saying all those stuff to the elder. He didn’t know that it could be harmful when the words slipped past his lips, but it’s Beomgyu he’s talking about. The emotionally sensitive Beomgyu hyung who cried by his hospital bed because he felt responsible for what happened at both Kai and Taehyun after the night of Taehyun’s first bite. And the Beomgyu hyung who came to cry in his bed a few days later because he thought that he was troubling his vampire crush by confessing.

He should’ve known that it would’ve given the vampire a wrong idea, though perhaps Kai meant at least half of what he said.

That he actually wanted all these vampires to stop bothering Taehyun. Even Beomgyu.

And he hates himself for that.

“What the fuck?” Taehyun looks ready to throw himself at someone for a fight when he caught a sight of Kai walking into their favourite café near the company building. Under the broad daylight, his makeup must looks even more dramatic, despite him already changing into his casual clothes. Not to mention the red contact lenses he had failed to take off since he was rushing his way so he won’t make Taehyun wait for too long.

Kai purposely puts up his best straight face, looking straight at Taehyun’s face that’s filled with concerns and incredulity. The moment he breaks into a smile, he receives multiple slaps on his arm just before he avoids them by settling down on the seat across of the male in the booth.

“I’m sorry!” he laughs. “Don’t I make a handsome vampire, though?”

That makes Taehyun tense up. Just the mention of Kai being a vampire always has this effect on him, followed by the anxious biting on his lower lip that alerts the human on just how much this topic bothers him. Making him wonder how much pain he had to go through ever since he turned.

He finally sighs, reaching out to give a squeeze on Taehyun’s hand in reassurance before gathering Taehyun’s tall glass of coffee in his hands to steal a sip of it, which only makes him cringe at the bitter taste filling his mouth.

“It’s Americano,” the male says, lips quirked up into a smile.

“You don’t even drink Americano.”

Taehyun shrugs, taking the glass back before he calls a waiter to make something with milk for Kai. “I can’t taste it anyway so I just drink whatever now.”

They fall into a comfortable silence, with Taehyun tapping on his phone to answer some messages from work while Kai’s eyes stay trained on him. Only as his drink comes and his voice thanking the waiter broke the silence between them that Taehyun looks at him again, finally locking his phone.

“I think Beomgyu hyung will leave the city for good now,” he says, eyebrows knitted in concern. He always wears his expressions so clearly in his face. Unashamed to show it unlike Kai who is naturally good at hiding how he feels. “That’s a very bad idea, though. Considering his state the first night I found him.”

“Hey, Taehyunnie.”

“Hm?”

“What if I said that it’s because of me?” Kai says, eliciting a confounded hum from the redhead. “What if I made Beomgyu hyung leave?”

It’s difficult, knowing that there’s a possibility of Taehyun lashing out on him knowing just what he’s done to their best friend. But the words just pour out of his lips as he tells the latter what happened during his visit. How it meant well until he just kept talking and talking and he might have slipped out something he didn’t mean.

By the time he finishes, fingers fiddling with a crumpled tissue paper, Kai starts questioning if he actually didn’t mean to drive Beomgyu away. Is he so cruel and uncaring to everyone else as long as Taehyun is safe and he can keep the guy all to himself.

It’s fucked up.

“I understand if you hate me,” he says quickly before Taehyun could voice it, seeing how the male’s lips parted while he still thinks on what to say. “You might want to break up with me and that’s fine.”

The troubled look in his face is replaced by a confused one. “We aren’t even dating?”

Now, that hurts.

He looks down to the table, to his lap, to his fingers, wherever it is as long as he doesn’t have to look at Taehyun’s face. He focuses on the melting ice inside the glass that makes dots of water appear on the surface of the glass, rolling down to make a puddle of water around the bottom of the glass.

They are not dating. It’s just him assuming that way since he thought it will happen naturally since he kept his end of the deal.

“Hey, it’s not like what you’re thinking of,” Taehyun says, his voice gentler now.

Kai feels warm hands on his cheeks, lifting his gaze to meet his best friend’s own, which have softened into an ocean of warm and tenderness. Taehyun is not one to display his emotions, but right now, Kai can see everything in his face.

It’s so so warm, that he might start choking because he forgot how to breathe.

“It’s that I haven’t asked you out yet, idiot,” he says, a hint of amusement dripping from his voice now as he smiles. “Date me. Let’s be boyfriends.”

It’s something that he’s always wanted, but now that he has it right before him, Kai feels his brain short circuiting, unable to make sense of the words until he feels his cheeks warm up, either from the blood spreading underneath the skin or the warmth radiating from Taehyun’s hands. But he doesn’t hate the feeling.

“Funny how you still have to ask,” he finally says, earning a questioning hum from the vampire who seems to be hiding his flustered state well. “I’m already yours ever since the first time you smiled at me.”

He managed to sneak a kiss to the inside of Taehyun’s wrist before the redhead draws his hands back, averting his gaze away completely by feigning interest on what’s happening outside the glass window next to them.

Kai lets him be, finding him adorable. Until he speaks again.

“Also, it’s not your fault, that Beomgyu hyung left,” he says, sighing softly as his gaze meets Kai’s again, reaching out so that their hands met across the table. “I just wish I knew where he is right now.”

==

Beomgyu wishes he has an actual destination.

Sure, he has travelled before, visiting different cities and countries throughout the years he’s blessed to have as a vampire. But now he’s in the run and his movement is limited to late night buses and hitchhiking shipment trucks. Going overseas is not an option since the vampire council has connections with human law enforcement, enough to alert them of a Choi Beomgyu attempting to leave the country.

It’s been several sleepless nights until he finally settles in one place. It’s a small city this fish truck dropped him at, which he’s grateful at since it’d be harder to track him in this kind of area.

He spends a night at this beaten down motel, sleeping restlessly until he wakes up and finds out that he might not have slept at all.

“Not this again… no,” he whispers under his breath, seeing blood all over the shirt he just purchased the day before when he arrived at the town. He blacked out completely the moment he hit bed the night before, and apparently the night before turned into two nights ago, which means that he spends more than twenty four hours as a feral.

His biggest fear starts materializing before him.

As he wraps himself inside the (thankfully) clean blanket provided by the hotel while waiting for his shirt to dry off completely, he starts connecting the pieces of memories floating in his head. The memories he didn’t live off.

At least no one dies. He hears nothing about an attack when he goes out to walk around the city. There’s no talk about an attack, or wariness in the friendly faces of people scattering by the small neighbourhood. The people who sell vegetables even greet him, an outsider who had initiated one or more attacks on the citizen of the town.

As he encounters a playground full of children playing and running around, accompanied by their moms chatting with each other by the side, Beomgyu realizes that he can’t endanger these people any further.

He’s not God, and he doesn’t have any right to judge who deserves to be attacked and not, so the least he can do is to jump from one place to another to minimize the danger he brought to these peaceful places.

That’s what he’s been doing ever since he left the city.

And as he settles down in the third one, he starts wondering if he ever wanted to be found at all. He wonders if his survival instinct comes from himself or the feral side inside him. And he can’t hate himself even more every time he wakes up with the taste of blood in his mouth, having no clue of what he did the night prior.

Eventually, he decided to start feeding before the feral side could demand for it. Drunken people are easier target, even though he hates the sting of alcohol mixing with the warm liquid sliding down his throat.

He will take just enough before lapping on the wound to make sure they’re healed properly, leaving the drunk people somewhere in a park bench or by the police office’s post to be found. “I’m sorry, thank you for saving my life,” he’d whisper for them before disappearing into the night each time.

And then one night, as he goes on one of his hunting, he encounters a pair of gleaming golden eyes watching him from the darkness of the night.

“You smell like a feral,” the voice speaks to him once Beomgyu finishes, almost dropping the human he’s carrying when his eyes widened and fixed at the woman blocking his way. Almost like he’s a deer caught in a headlight. “But you’re not finishing off your meal. That’s new.”

“I’m just halfway there, fortunately,” he says. The latter scoffs, arching a brow in incredulity laced with amusement.

“Interesting. Do you want to come meet my people?”

It doesn’t seem like a good idea. The news about his disappearance as well as an issue to finish him off is well known for the vampires with connections to the councils and the council officers. There is no telling that this girl is not associated in a way with that organization. And he might as well walk himself into a trap if he decided to trust this person.

But the girl is already walking away without waiting for his answer, giving him no room to think about the pro and cons.

Before he knows it, his feet are already carrying him across the street until he caught up with her.

“I hope it’s the right choice to trust you.”

She smirks, cocking her head to a side. “I think it’s a bad idea to trust a vampire in the first place.”

The vampire goes by the name Lia, and she has been living with this small community of hers for decades. It’s not unheard of, that some vampires chose not to be associated with the councils or bow down to the laws made by selected purebloods. And as long as they don’t create chaos among humans, these communities are treated as something non-existent.

So this is the first time Beomgyu sees a living proof of them.

The living space is not like the ones he’s seen in cult themed movies. It’s a normal looking warehouse, but as he enters deeper into the place, he ends up in a vast basement extended with several more rooms. The cold corridors give him a same feeling as walking into the council office building, except it’s more intimidating since he doesn’t know anyone.

“You can wait here. Make yourself comfortable but don’t break anything,” Lia says before leaving him, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder as he leaves the room.

For some reasons she reminds him of Choi Yeonjun and his superiority complex. But maybe she does have that kind of position in this place.

It’s a lounge with cozy sofas and a huge TV that is currently displaying some intense action movie. Two vampires are watching them, barely paying attention as he walks further into the room, as if it’s not a new thing to have a stranger walk around your safe place.

Beomgyu keeps himself busy walking around the room and looking through the frames neatly arranged over the walls. There are articles of suspected vampire attacks, and the more he reads through them, the more horrifying they get.

Human newspapers covering a bizarre wipe-out of a small town after a beast attack. A bloody attack on a neighbourhood. Serial killers that are never found, all of the cases involving loss of blood.

He knows that vampires are not innocent creatures. Even himself, who stole blood from unsuspecting drinker from clubs and killed someone or god knows how many more people because he couldn’t control his feral side. Still, he had kept himself blind to the atrocities done by his fellow vampires for so long, that reading the headlines of these articles gave him goosebumps.

So it’s just to be expected that he almost jumped right into the ceiling when someone suddenly speaks right before him. So, so close to his ear.

He turns around, pressing his back flush against the wall behind him. His eyes wide, capturing the look of a taller male standing before him with a gentle smile that reminds him of a warm spring breeze. Except his long silver hair brings coldness into the room, along with his eyes that look void no matter how brightly he smiles.

“I can’t believe we got Choi Myungjoo’s son in our home. I knew that you’d led himself right into the entrance of this place the moment I heard about your fate,” he says. His eyes turned gloom for a split moment as he shakes his head slowly. “Poor little mate-less. Not unheard of, though.”

Behind him, Lia is also walking back into the room, not paying attention to them as she goes straight to the bar to pour herself a drink. “Be easy on the new guy, please. The last one turned feral way too quickly because of the stress you gave her.”

Despite saying that, she doesn’t seem to care about his condition of being cornered by the other guy.

“Ah right, what a shame.”

“You know about me?” Beomgyu swallows up his fear. His eyes shine with boldness as he gazes up at the silver haired guy. It bothers him that this person knows so much about him, and that he expected Beomgyu’s steps. He’s just hoping that this guy is not associated in any way with his father or Choi Yeonjun.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if he is, judging from the air radiates from him, getting right under his skin in a chill that forces him to submit into fear. That’s the kind of vibe you’d get from facing a pureblood vampire who has lived for centuries.

“I know all about you, Choi Beomgyu. I know that you’d eventually lose your mind and find yourself here because your loser of a father gives up on you.”

“He’s not a loser,” he hisses, flinching when the male brings up his hand, only to land a gentle pat on top of Beomgyu’s head.

“Myungjoo’s puppies are always so loyal.”

“Shut up! What’s wrong with you people?” Beomgyu finally snaps, slapping the hand away and side-stepping the guy so he can head for the door.

“But you’ll need us, Choi Beomgyu. You need a way to kill your feral part.”

The promise in the gentle voice makes his steps halt by the door. His hand hangs midway to the door handle, quivering with the battle going on between his mind and his muscle. He is so ready to leave this sick person, but if there’s a way to get rid of his feral side before he completely succumbs into it, he’s not about to miss it.

“Good boy,” the guy praises him, beckoning him to follow him to sit on the long couch. Beomgyu hates that he’s following the direction like a lost puppy, sitting as far away from the beautiful, intimidating male before him.

“Who the hell are you anyway?” he asks, looking at the guy through his fringe that has fallen over his eyes, hiding the nervous hint behind his smug tone.

“Ah right, my bad,” he offers a smile. “My name is Haru.”

==

Soobin is running.

There is a blooming tightness inside his chest, but he’s not running out of breath, not when he feels like floating with how fear takes over his body, paralyzing him bit by bit. From a distance, he can hear screams. The smell of burnt building debris and dead bodies are wafting through the place along with the stench of blood.

One step towards the road that leads to a neighbourhood small town, he will be caught by one of those monsters. The monsters are drawing closer and closer to his part of the neighbourhood, and tonight they have reached him.

There’s an urge to cry or curl somewhere because of fear, but he knows that he has to run faster in order to not be the next prey. But he knows it’s over the moment he spots a flash of movement in a corner of his eyes, and then he’s being thrown against a brick wall.

The force is so strong that he feels like he might have broken a few bones. A pained groan falls off his lips, interrupted by a gasp as a face shows up right in front of his face. The crimson flash in the pair of eyes boring into his own intensified the fear in his chest, making him want to shrink and hide.

But there’s nowhere to go, and he knows that it’s the end when he feels the glistening light reflected against the sharp point of the guy’s sharp fangs.

“Hi, Soobin,” the male says, smiling so sweetly just like any other day in Soobin’s memory. But this time it invokes more fear than relief, especially since there’s no trace of recognition in the guy’s face, only hunger and feral desire. “Bye, Soobin.”

And then there’s a sharp pain as the vampire grabs a handful of his hair, tilting his head to a side so he can bite down onto his neck.

Soobin’s eyes snapped open just as he feels the piercing pain on his pulse point, a hand flying up to touch the part, expecting a trace of blood staining his fingertips and a sharp of pain following it. But there’s nothing like that.

He’s sitting inside this small hotel room of the current town he’s stopped to rest at. Seeking someone without any clue eventually takes a toll on him, especially since he hasn’t figured out what he wants to do to the person. The very same person who replaced the face of the vampire in his dream.

It’s a recurring dream that comes at his darkest nights, reminding him of the traumatizing first night of his encounter with the night creature before he became one. The vampire who failed to kill him and left him to die in pain. Except the pain never ends and it was intensified when he got turned into one of them.

Either it’s a premonition dream or a flashback dream, he does not want to guess.

But he does know that the longer he takes, the more chance he will lose Beomgyu completely into the night.

The fear of night he has gradually growing inside his chest makes him more wary about moving between the alleys under flickering streetlights. That’s why he prefers to explore these unfamiliar cities in the daylight, trying to be unbothered by the scorching heat of sun glaring onto the top of his head.

“Have you seen this man anywhere in town these days?” he would ask random people he met during his daylight stroll.

An uncle who sells newspapers by the street, a group of middle aged women watching their kids on the playground, a vegetable store owner. Most of them would just squint at the picture he shows from his phone screen.

If he picks a group of teenagers to ask, there would be a flash of recognition in one of their faces, giving Soobin the slightest hope blooming in his chest.

“Isn’t that Choi Beomgyu? If I see him in this stinky town, I’d definitely recognize him,” says one of the girls he met, before the realization hits him. “Wait, are you saying that he might be somewhere around him?”

“We should find him!” her friend chimes in from the side, suddenly interested in the picture in contrary to her nonchalant stance earlier.

“Imagine the clicks we’ll get.”

While he would appreciate the help to search, Soobin would slowly back down and turn another way when he encounters this kind of people. He’s had enough troubles in his life without involving teenagers.

At night, his routines will have him sitting at the police office, scanning through the report archive after showing him a badge that shows them he is in the position with authorization to demand for those files. Bless the vampire council for striking that deal with a higher up from the police force. Or maybe one of them is actually a member of the human’s law enforcement system.

It’s helpful for them to know if there were any attacks resembling that is of a vampire’s, but it’s harder for this kind of small towns as their data are not computerized and uploaded into an accessible database, thus causing the attacks to be undetected. That’s also why the small towns are a perfect location for runaways or ferals, since the councils won’t care about these humans anyway.

Finally, Soobin found a lead after seeing a report of a drunken man with puncture wound on his neck. He was disoriented and couldn’t give details in his report, so it became unreliable. But seeing the pictures provided on the file, he became certain of it.

He didn’t think Beomgyu would still be so clumsy as to leave his ‘leftover’ human lying around without healing his wound. There’s only one conclusion comes from it: the male has gone completely feral.

This is what he feared.

It doesn’t take long for him to head to the address listed in the file. It’s a beaten down apartment building, and he will find this victim on his room at the fourth floor to see if he could coax out some more information about the attack from him. But apparently it’s not necessary anymore.

In front of the entrance of the building, a piece of his nightmare has materialized into something real.

His legs betray him as they shake subtly upon taking a step closer to the familiar male who’s blocking his way. The gentle smile shone by the moonlight does nothing to calm his nerves this time, unlike that last time, decades away, the last time he saw the guy.

“Choi Soobin,” his name sounds despicable when it’s said in that voice. The familiar voice that still haunts his dreams. “Took you long enough to get here.”

Soobin tries to smile, calling the name through his gritted teeth. “Haru.”

That’s when he knows that he has walked straight into the trap of his old friend.

After all these years, he’d like to think that he has gotten over the trauma of watching his neighbourhood got whipped out by a bunch of feral vampires. That conviction is challenged the moment he is facing the cherry on top to that tragedy in person. He had hoped this guy has passed away or gone into hiding after not being seen for so long.

But there’s a reason why vampires like Yeonjun, Myungjoo, and this guy managed to stay along for a while. They are not easy to kill.

“Please remind me why I agreed to come with you again?” he mumbles into the rim of his bottle, questioning himself more than the other.

That earns him a soft laughter from Haru. “You need some info about your little boyfriend. Besides, Isn’t it nice to reconnect with an old friend once in a while? It’s hard to get to you since Yeonjun has claimed you.”

“He did what?” he arches a brow.

“Told me to never come near you again,” he says simply. “But it doesn’t matter since I knew you wouldn’t want to join my side again.”

Now that’s new. He makes a mental note to ask Yeonjun about it when he sees the guy again, if the blond doesn’t end up firing him at first sight considering he just took off without any news or filing a temporary leave from the office. But that’s the least of his worries for now.

It’s the fact that he is now sitting with the source of his nightmare like they are a couple of friends hanging out in front of a convenience store. Drinks in their hands and casual chatters floating between them.

Except the latter part comes from Haru alone and Soobin is ready to flee at the first sign of danger. He just needs to make sure that he gets what he wants and not the other way around.

“So, Beomgyu,” he demands, placing his empty water bottle down on the table with more force than necessary. He agreed to one drink. This is it. “Tell me where he is.”

A surprise flickers past Haru’s expression before it’s replaced by amusement. “Still the same uptight little Soobinie, hm? I thought that you’ve changed your mind about joining us now, but you’re still on the side of those pretentious snobs. What I didn’t expect is for your boyfriend to stand up for that too. I thought he’s more in the rebelling side.”

“First of all, he’s not my boyfriend, and no, he’s better than all of you people combined.”

The vampire breaks into a loud laughter that makes Soobin flinch, though biting down on his tongue to not show any hint of intimidation.

“You think a vampire can be better than another? We’re all predators who are just doing our best to live. Just because we have different ways of doing things, now you’re thinking that you’re cleared up of your sins?”

Soobin shuts his eyes briefly, teeth gritted. This is it. The manipulation. Haru always had a way of talking that makes himself sound so deep or intellectual, but it’s actually full of hidden thorn that will make you doubt all your prior convictions. He fell for it as a human, so he should know better now than to listen to his sweet mouth.

But he takes the bait anyway.

“You turn random humans into vampires and let them be feral. Your method is to let them kill as many people as it takes for them to get back into their senses. And you still don’t think you’re sick for that?” he says, trying hard to keep his voice straight. But it’s clear that he is seething. The later has gotten under his skin and he knows it, judging by the smirk playing on his lips

“You seemed okay when you went into the street for that very purpose, Soobinie.”

_Dark alleys. Pained screams. Blood all over his hands and face, trickling down his throat, yet he still wants more. More blood. More body counts because his master says that the more he hunts, the stronger he will be._

He feels a burn inside his eyes, and thankfully it’s the familiar gentle burn and not the one he feels as when he still had those crimson pair of eyes as a feral newborn. The part of his past that he’s still hating himself for, and it’s all because he trusted this man.

“Beomgyu. Where is he?” he says through his gritted teeth.

“Are you sure you don’t want to—“

“Where is he?” he snaps his gaze up, glaring straight at the male across of him. The purple flash of his eyes glinting under the street lamps, filled with so much venom that it must have taken the other aback, seeing that he actually obliged.

The vampire sighs. “He said something about being somewhere he first bit you.” Soobin blinks at that, more confused than upset now. “Sounded all jealous and childish ever since he found out that I was the one who turned you. How entertaining.”

He keeps going, but Soobin is not listening anymore.

How come he never thought of it before? There’s only one place they had in common if Beomgyu actually wanted to be found. His mind instantly goes to the scene where he feels the graze of sharp teeth breaking his skin, and he could feel a hint of strange emotion pouring into his system for a second there.

There is only one place he can find Beomgyu.

“Shame that I can’t get you two on my side, but at least I have a back-up,” Haru says suddenly, getting up from his seat and ready to leave just like that after getting Soobin’s attention back. The words made him frown, especially as he smiles with a hidden intent that can’t be a good one. “You’re keeping a cute pet, but apparently he’s not loyal enough to you.”

“What are you talking about?” he gets up as well, frowning.

But Haru never had any intention to answer that. He’s already walking away, waving his hand good bye without sparing another look at the purple haired male.

Whatever he is up to, it can’t be good. But Soobin can't be concerned about that now.

He has to find Beomgyu, and he might know just where to find him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this might be the last part of the Finding Beomgyu arc, I guess it's obvious where the two of them are heading now? also there's a foreshadowing of Haru's role later in the story ;)


	16. Chapter 16

“I told you to stop following me.”

Beomgyu doesn’t usually pay attention to his surrounding when he travels, even once he became a fugitive, but it’s hard not to miss a certain blonde haired vampire who is following him blatantly, not even trying to mask her movement. As she’s called out, the girl only steps forward to walk by his side. The air around her is nonchalant, but she can't be following him just for a little chat.

“I need to make sure that you are not giving out the location of our hideout to your comrades.”

That earns a snort from him. “You act like I’m in the place to make a contact with the council.”

“You may,” Lia says, shrugging a shoulder. “Exchanging information in return for lesser punishment. I’ve seen that sort of betrayal before.”

That makes sense, to the point that Beomgyu starts considering the option as they walk through the quiet road. It’s getting quieter the further they get into the area, just the way he remembers it when he came with Soobin for that one task. The one task before everything succumbs into a series of neverending nightmares.

Only that it gets better now, as he can see; there doesn’t seem to be any curfews anymore, and the street lamps are turned on.

This is what Soobin does, catching bad guys and making things better for innocent citizens. Meanwhile, he is on his way to transform into the very thing that Soobin is supposed to get rid of.

“Listen, I have no intention to go back to their side, okay? You can just go back to your weirdo pack,” he finally says, stretching his neck from the long bus trip he took to reach this district; all under the scrutiny of an unfriendly vampire lady.

“If you’re not on their side anymore, why won’t you just join us?” Lia asks, still not ditching her scouting job. “Out here, with your condition, the only outcome possible is to turn feral and get eradicated on the spot by those pretentious officers.”

“Aw, you care so much about me,” he deadpans.

“It’s just a shame, to let a pureblood die so easily just because of what he’s been doctrined to believe since he’s a baby.”

As the motel he’s planning to stay in already comes into view, Beomgyu decided to end this little discussion that he never wanted once and for all. He halts his step, turning to face the other with a sharp look in his eyes.

“Look, I don’t need your concern, okay? I will turn myself in before I go feral; that way they have no reason to kill me even though they have to arrest me.”

A derisive smile forms on her lips, followed by a scoff. “You’re so naïve.”

“What?” he frowns.

“Your father sent someone to capture you. The council is the least of your concern right now since they are just a bunch of useless peabrains anyway,” she steps closer, gaze locked with Beomgyu, who refused to be intimidated, even at the touch of her cold fingers on his chin. “Daddy wants to kill you with his own hands, apparently.”

“Fuck off,” he says through his gritted teeth, smiling at the blonde while his eyes stay cold.

“Just thought you might be interested to know that Choi Soobin is the one he sent to come get you.”

She does let go of him after saying that, but her words caught his attention now. “What was that?”

“You heard me clearly.”

“Stop playing around!”

Beomgyu sees red for a split second. What snaps him back into his mind is the crash that rips through the silence of the night. When his sight clears up again, his fingers are wrapped around her neck as he slams her against a brick wall, causing a crack over the red painted surface.

“That’s what gets you fired up?” she laughs breathlessly. “I thought you’re ready to get captured, but you do have survival instincts, huh? What makes you so different from us, then?”

“I don’t go on a killing spree like what you people do. What’s wrong with you guys? Too much blood replacing your brains?”

“Save that self-righteousness for when you totally lose yourself, Choi Beomgyu. You have no clue what it is like,” her gaze hardens, locked in a battle of glare. The position doesn’t even seem to faze her despite his fingers crushing her windpipes. “Better a few people die than a bunch other, if the ferals were to go on an actual killing spree.”

“There are better ways!”

There’s a glint of anger crossing her eyes for a split second. The first actual emotion displayed on her visage. “You really think so? Even if the vampire turns into a feral already?”

“I fucking do.”

“Then prove it.”

It’s faster than the rate of transfer from his eyesight to brain. Beomgyu sees a quick movement of blonde hair shining under the flickering street light, breaking past his restraint. It's a practiced movement, too quick for his eyes to catch until he's the one being pressed up against the wall. Eyes wide from sharp points of her fangs buried into the pulse point of his neck.

This is it, the feeling of being the prey for once.

The helplessness of being unable to move at the sharp pain tearing at his throat. The stench of his own blood is filling the air now, making him lightheaded until he realizes that it's caused by something else.

Something intrusive, uninvited, filling every space of his head and every cell in his body.

The _hunger._

If he thought he had felt hunger before, it was nothing compared to this clawing sensation in his throat, spreading throughout his system and replacing his grip on reality with insanity. The thoughts of _feedfeedfeedmustfeed_ is screaming so loudly in his head, that her words waft past his cloudy mind in a soft whisper.

The pain caused by the wound is nothing compared to the ache he feels all over his body. It's centered in the burning on his eyes, and the sharp pain of his gum that’s followed by the piercing tips of his fangs poking onto his lower lip, breaking the skin.

“Welcome to the crimson club, Choi," her voice penetrates the haze that wraps around him, soft and lulling him into a fake sense of safety. "If you survived, my boss will welcome you into our family."

Her voice grows distant along with the sound of her footsteps walking away from him through the empty alley, and Beomgyu’s scream is cut off as something takes over the last bit of consciousness he’s been clinging onto for so, so long.

He’s lost it.

==

The despair to find Beomgyu soon takes over Soobin’s judgment when he accepts the ride. It’s just a matter of swallowing his pride, one that costs him a last grateful smile towards the male who had ruined his life and trapped him in eternity before he enters the car. He sees Haru watching the car drive away with the same entertained smile on his lips.

This doesn’t seem right. The fact that this vampire would be so willing to help him. Whatever Haru does, it is never without any hidden intention.

He stops pondering about it the moment the landscape outside of the window turns from more crowded and lively area into a familiar deserted neighbourhood. A city whose people are abandoned by the higher ups of the country just because of how insignificant it is. One that the ferals under Haru’s protection would be happy to turn into a graveyard.

A city of the livestocks, as they would call it.

And he knows just what he has to do if he finds Beomgyu here.

The glint of silver under the occasional street lamps flashing into the car must have caught the driver’s attention. Soobin can feel the stare on him through the rearview mirror before a voice speaks to him.

“I’m not a vampire,” he says warily.

“Oh, I’m not thinking of using this on you.”

A sigh of relief escaped him, but he still seems intrigued by the appearance of the silver stake that he can’t stop probing. “Who are you trying to hunt down then? I know you vampires are involved in some nasty business every other days, but I hope the person actually deserves it.”

It pains Soobin, just thinking about the matter of who deserved to be impaled on this deadly weapon for their kinds. The council. Other communities. Choi Myungjoo himself. What makes them qualified to decide who deserved to live and die?

Beomgyu did commit some unacceptable things, taking innocent humans’ blood without permission and leaving them to die. He didn’t even seem to regret what he did the first night they met, rather proud of being a predator through and through, and even went for an officer’s neck.

But does he deserve to die? After how the universe tries to fuck his life over and over since day one?

“I…” he speaks up again after letting the silence takes over the car for a little too long. “I’m going to kill the person I love.”

It’s the first time he said it out loud, and it becomes more real this way. The words materialized into something palpable, sitting on top of his chest and threatening to suffocate him. He doesn’t need to look up to sense the sympathetic gaze thrown at him either, knowing that he’s killed the conversation for good.

The car comes into a stop in front of the hotel he stayed at the first time he visited the area.

He thanks the driver, getting off the car only to face a blonde woman stopping him from closing the door.

“This is my ride now. You took so long to arrive,” she says, seating herself where he sat earlier and crosses her leg over the other. Even then, she’s still looking up at Soobin, studying his face with an impassive face, until a smirk forms on her lips.

“What’s the matter?” Soobin asks, puzzled.

“You really took way too long. Who knows what happened to your little boyfriend by now,” she sighs, lifting her hand to examine her manicured fingernails. “Though actually, I wouldn’t worry about him much. The worst that can happen is overconsumption.”

“What did you do—“

That’s when Soobin spots the splatter of blood on the sleeve of her pastel blouse, and it seems to be her intention in the first place, seeing how she just smiles brighter spotting where his eyes are fixated on.

“Good luck, Choi Soobin,” she says, blowing a kiss to him before shutting the door close.

He reaches instinctively to grasp the handle and have it open again, only to let some curses fall of his lips when the car drives away quickly, leaving him standing alone in the middle of the road. A foreboding air around him.

A humid night. Scent of blood.

A sign that something bad is about to happen.

His legs carried him away from the hotel as he breaks into a run. His fingers are feeling the coldness of the handle of his silver stake, safely tucked into its sheath that’s strapped to his belt. At this point, he is not thinking anymore, letting the adrenaline takes over him, while he tries to spot the faint scent of blood wafting through the air, mixed with the stench of sewage and rotten trash.

It’s not a wonder that it’s faint, since the first body that he found is nearly drained. Stiff and cold, lying facedown on top of a dirty alley. The tearing on his neck doesn’t even ooze blood anymore.

It reeks of alcohol too, so it must be an unlucky young man stumbling his way out from a pub, when he got attacked.

“Choi Beomgyu, please don’t let it be you,” he whispers under his breath.

It’s fucked up, that the only thing he’s worried about upon finding a corpse is the vampire who’s most likely to be the cause of it. But he is not wearing his council uniform. He doesn’t have to go by their standards.

He is going by Beomgyu’s wish instead.

_Please find me and kill me_.

Hearing the sound of Beomgyu’s voice in his head makes him shut his eyes for a few seconds. The moment he opens them, they are filled with determination, so do his legs, as he stands up and makes a run towards a direction where a crashing sound was heard.

The second body he found is pinned against a brick wall, while a certain vampire has his face tucked into the crook of the poor human’s neck, draining him of his blood.

It reminds him of the first night they met. A very same situation. Except this time, there is none of the beautiful silver colour on Beomgyu’s eyes as Soobin pries him off the whimpering human and throws him against the wall on the other side of the alley.

There are only a pair of crimson eyes, dazed at first as a side effect of the feeding, before they are filled with bloodthirst. “What the fuck? Let go of me, vampire!”

He is _vampire_. Not Soobin-ah. Not hyung. Just a random vampire who’s getting on his way.

Soobin doesn’t budge at the words screamed out to his face. He has Beomgyu pinned against the wall with his arm across his neck, threatening to choke him if he moves too much. Even then, he can feel the strength of the struggle against his restraint, knowing that there’s no way he can restraint the pureblood once he is using his full force.

Another pathetic whimper sounds from behind him, alerting him of the state of the victim. “You have to get up!” he yells, throwing a look over his shoulder at the guy who is pushing himself up to his feet, disoriented, before his eyes widened in horror. “Run away. Now!”

“No!” Beomgyu screams, struggling some more that it starts to get harder to keep him there.

Soobin only have his gaze back on the feral once the human stumbled away in fear, gritting his teeth seeing the state Beomgyu is in.

It feels like way too long already since the last time he sees the vampire, and it’s such a shame that it has to be on this state: wild, murderous glint swimming in the crimson eyes, the same colour as the blood staining his lips, dripping from the corners and down to his shirt. His fingers grappling Soobin’s arms, leaving claw marks that sting, but heal a just seconds later.

If only his regeneration ability also works on his heart. Maybe it wouldn’t pain him this much to see that he's too late. The person he's seeking is not there anymore, as Beomgyu has succumbed into this feral state.

He’d take the impish and smug Choi Beomgyu who wants to taste his blood any day, than this one who doesn’t even have an ounce of recognition in his eyes.

“Is this what you wanted to be when you ran away?” he lets his emotion get the best of him, forgetting that he has to be quick if he wants to put a stake in Beomgyu's heart before the vampire gets a full grasp of his strength.

Yet, he finds himself staring at the vampire.

Pleading. Almost pathetic.

“Get off me!” Beomgyu screams, gnashing at his face. Apparently the only thing he is capable to do now.

A predator who’s born only to feed.

“Choi Beomgyu!” he yells back.

His loud voice echoes in the empty alley. It's the first time he's ever yelled this loudly at someone, not even when he was in the verge of being feral himself, or when he was in so much pain during his transformation into a vampire.

It might have something to do with the way it hurts more than when he had his life wrenched out of his being back then. The thought of his silver stake sinking into Beomgyu's chest is killing him, but it kills him more the longer he has to see the vampire behaves this way.

If there's another way...

"Soobin hyung?"

His eyes focus back on Beomgyu as he hears a squeak of his name, only registering late that the vampire had jumped in surprise from his voice earlier, and now he is staring up at Soobin in confusion. Eyes round and clear.

"Beomgyu?"

It shouldn’t be this easy, right? Ferals are treated as hopeless cases because usually there is no going back from that state. The method found by Haru requires them to kill several people mercilessly in order to obtain enough amount of blood. To revert back into a sane mind just from having his name called? It sounds like something straight out of a fairytale.

It’s unfortunate that they don’t live in one.

They live in a horror story filled by bloodcurdling screams and stench of metallic blood.

So it’s a mistake on Soobin’s part, when his arm slackens on the restraint and he takes a step back, only to lose his breath in a gasp when he Beomgyu’s eyes hardened again. A smirk plastered over his lips when he throws himself at Soobin.

The impact sends them both toppling down to the ground just as Soobin’s hand finds the handle of his stake.

A practiced movement. He has done this a few times in the past with newborn ferals. The feral would be too elated from the small victory of getting the upper hand that they will leave an opening the moment they go for the bite. He only has to drive his stake up, lodging it into the vampire’s chest and into his heart.

And he can do it this time too. Beomgyu wants him to.

Except, he finds his fingers loosening around the handle, and then the sound of metal hitting the pavement could be heard before their bodies crash painfully onto the concrete.

He is pinned under the weight of the feral. There’s a soft nudge to his chin as Beomgyu leans down to bury his face into Soobin’s neck. His panting breath caressing the damp skin first, followed by an affectionate nuzzle that feels so uncharacteristic for a beastly state Beomgyu’s in right now.

It’s nothing like that time he kissed Soobin.

This is not Choi Beomgyu. And he hates himself for not feeling any fear of objection for this, knowing that he’s willingly given up the inevitable fight by always letting the younger vampire have his way with him.

Soobin’s eyes glazed over as he feels the piercing pain in his pulse point.

It’s a familiar sensation from forever ago. A Traumatizing one. Yet it feels so right this time, almost like this is meant to happen ever since the first time he laid his eyes on Beomgyu.

But he is a monster, and Soobin is enabling him to be one.

==

Taehyun wakes up with a start.

Not one that signals an impending danger, but one that’s caused by the constant vibration of his phone from under the pillow.

He survived months of blood hunger and concealing his identity, a period of being tortured by an arrogant vampire under the title of training him, and a painful transition of accepting the creature that he is right now, only to be launched back into his mundane life of never ending schedules and a very demanding manager.

After letting the call go into the voicemail several times, Taehyun finally gives up, sitting on the bed and picking up the call. He runs his fingers through the dishevelled red hair, trying to remember when he is scheduled for a root retouched, while his manager is yapping at the other line. The guy is going to repeat it three or four more times later on.

He only responds at a point of the conversation that caught his interest. Unlike the kind of excitement he would feel at the beginning of his career when he would get a new gig, however, it’s dread that comes to him the moment he heard the word.

“Contract renewal?” he cuts off the other. “My contract is not ending until next year.”

“It’s good to talk about the details from early on.”

“And you clearly know that I have no intention to keep working for you people.”

A sigh from the other line. “We talked about this last time. I don’t know what we’d do with the video footage, Taehyun. My scar still hurt a little, too.”

Taehyun is fully awake now. The soft trailing of his fingers through his hair turns into a grip instead, as he tugs onto the faded strands, just so he won’t crush the phone in his hand or throw it against the wall.

Not yet at least.

“Okay, see you at the office,” he says, trying to put on a smile on his voice though it comes from between his gritted teeth

“In 15 minutes—“

As soon as he hangs up the call, he drops the phone to the floor only to steps on it. The device cracks under his sock-clad foot, and it does make him feel better.

It only takes him a few moments to get ready, changed into a fairly decent outfit and ready to go when he spots a tuft of dark locks peeking out from a blanketed figure on his sofa. He barely remembers Kai telling him that he’s staying over, but then again the younger never really left his side for long except for when they’re swamped by works.

Deciding to stay behind for a little longer, Taehyun seats himself on top of the blanket. The huff coming from the body beneath him tells him that he’s probably sitting on his stomach, knocking the breath out of the sleeping boy.

“Good morning,” he says when Kai peeks out from his blanket to glare at him. “You should’ve just slept in the room. Not like you haven’t done that a lot before.”

“It’s different. We were just friends.”

“And?”

“Sleeping in a same bed sounds like a few steps later in the relationship,” that makes Taehyun snort, only to press his lips together to hold back a smile when Kai glares at him again. “I can’t help it, okay? I’ve spent years crushing on you and now that we’re actually together, I don’t know what to do.”

_Cute._ Taehyun mused silently. Kai is usually always confident on the steps he takes, since he always knows what he wants. Seeing this side of his just makes him more endeared, and for a moment he forgets his anger from barely ten minutes ago.

Despite not having romantic feelings for him, Kai had always been his anchor. Even now, he acts as an anchor for Taehyun to be grounded into his human side, forgetting the bloodbath he had pictured in his mind in clear details.

With Kai, he is always human. Always is the other half of the pair of teenage boys hiding under the bed that night.

“Stop thinking so much. This place is a lot better with you around anyway,” he says, removing his weight from the poor boy as he gets up, dropping a single card on top of the table. He takes the chance to walk faster to exit the apartment, putting on his shoes hastily just as Kai realized what’s the card.

“You’re keying me!” he shouts. “Not the vandalism of course. It’s almost like you want me to move in.”

“Good bye!” Taehyun sputters, stepping out from the place with his shoes hastily put on.

The warmth dissipates from his system the farther he walks away from the closed door. It’s true that Kai is the only one tying him to the last bit of humanity left inside him, but it’s not what he needs right now.

Humanity won’t save him from the suffocating restraint this blackmailing company has on him.

He betrays himself by steering himself towards the very same person he is trying to avoid in order to stay _human_.

There's only so much he can take even as a human, and after that excruciating discussion with his manager at the office and disagreeing to most of the bullet points listed on his contract’s draft, he drives himself into his last resort.

“How the fuck did you even find where I live?” the vampire looks unkempt, unlike how he usually dresses up without any flaws, though it’s clear that he tried his best to fix his appearance while Taehyun went up to this floor.

A penthouse. Pureblood vampires and their privilege.

“A lot of coercion and celeb privilege. And maybe breaking into your office.”

Yeonjun glares at him, exhaling a deep sigh as he seats himself on his long sofa, his gaze taunting the younger who is standing rigidly in the middle of his living room. There is a big window on one side of the room, covered by curtains, and only letting a few specks of sunlight filter in from the gaps

A nice taste of interior design for someone so displeasing like Choi Yeonjun.

“What do you want?”

“I expressed my distraught about my company discovering about my real identity, and yours, but there’s no sign of the council taking an action even until now,” he says calmly, looking straight into the blond’s eyes. “So I’m going to take actions. I won’t let them threaten me anymore.”

“What do you mean taking actions?” the other questions, arching a brow.

“Get rid of the problem.”

“You may get rid of the footage, but your manager would still be aware of what you are, and may someday use it.”

Taehyun stares at him. “Exactly.”

Finally, it dawns in Yeonjun’s eyes. The realization.

“You’re going to kill him.”

“And everyone who knows about it.”

It’s fun to be the one controlling the situation, Taehyun mildly thinks, as he watches Yeonjun frowns, conflicting emotions showing on his face. Usually the pureblood will be the one calling all the shots, only letting Taehyun listen to what he has to say. The know-it-all that he is.

He can see that he is doing something out of Yeonjun’s expectations. No more a docile newborn who only knows how to listen if he doesn’t want to be killed.

Instead of instantly antagonizing him like he thought, the blond stays seated. An amused smirk slowly forms on his lips. “And why are you telling me this? It’d be easier to accomplish what you wanted to do if I didn’t know about it.”

“Just making sure about a few things. Like my status right now, am I still a newborn under your suspicion? You said that I’ve passed last time we talked, so it means that you don’t have the rights to kill me on first offense.”

“I do what I want to,” Yeonjun scoffs, but finally shrugs in defeat upon receiving a drilling stare from the younger vampire. “But yeah, technically you’re under the council’s ruling now and you’d be on trial even if you’re caught biting into someone’s neck without permission.”

“I suspected that much.”

“You trust me too much to tell me your plan, Kang Taehyun. You think I won’t stop you? I might even kill you right here and no one will find out that I broke the rule.”

“I know it’s risky, but you don’t seem like the type to meddle into someone’s business either.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Well then, I’ll just disappear after getting it done. You guys can’t even find Beomgyu hyung so I doubt you’ll have any clue on where—“

Before he can finish his sentence, his breath is taken away when Yeonjun is suddenly standing right before him His teeth are clenched together, trying hard not to fall under the other’s intimidation, although he does lose in the end when he steps backwards upon seeing Yeonjun’s hand reaching out towards him.

His step is halted when the back of his knees hit an edge of a chair, making him stumble back to sit on it. His back hitting the cover of a grand piano that served as a decoration in the middle of the living room.

When he diverts his gaze back to Yeonjun, his own determined gaze starts to crumble under Yeonjun’s glare. He starts regretting even coming here, and pondering on what method he could do to win from this stronger, more experienced vampire for an opening to run away.

“Does it worth the hassle?” Yeonjun asks instead. "You'll turn into a murderer."

Taehyun looks at him, his eyes hardened. “I’d do it all over again, if it means that I can be free of their restraints.”

That makes Yeonjun break into a laugh. His loud voice booms through the vast room.

“God, you’re so funny for a newborn. This is why I like having you around,” Yeonjun says once he stops laughing, sighing as he reaches out. The touch on his ear makes Taehyun flinch, but not prying away from their little battle of glares. “Remember the tracker I put on you? I’m the only one who can take it off, so… good luck with your plan, newbie.”

Yeonjun leaves him in the room after saying that, yawning and muttering something about needing his beauty sleep while the redhead is left gaping where he is sitting at the piano. The touch on his ear makes the skin tingles. The feeling travels to his chest, burning it with an annoyance so profound that he is tempted to wait for Yeonjun to fall asleep so he can murder him in his sleep.

In the end, he just leaves after purposely knocking off a flower vase from its display.

Fuck his life, and fuck Choi Yeonjun for being so infuriatingly smarter than him.

==

Soobin is still lying motionless on the ground with the weight of Beomgyu’s body slumped on top of him. His mind is slowly clearing up from the momentary haze caused by the bite. And now everything makes sense.

Upon receiving the bite, he felt an intense pain right away, along with sadness and despair filling his system, making him wanted to bolt away at the overwhelming sensations. But he stayed there, breathing shakily as he run his fingers through Beomgyu’s hair while the vampire is messily fed on his blood. The pain slowly dissipates the more blood leaves his system, and then he feels something sweeter flowing from whatever connection formed between them.

It makes his chest ache with the warmth filling it, healing all the broken parts caused by the thoughts of Beomgyu leaving him, and replacing it with _hope_.

And now, as Beomgyu finally detaches his mouth from his skin, tipping his head back and swiping his tongue across his lips, he can finally confirm it. It’s the same kind of warmth he’s been feeling every time he sees the younger vampire. The same kind of longing and desire to hold the latter.

It was Beomgyu’s feelings that he tapped into, purely flowing into his system from the bite.

Beomgyu is catching his breath, but he looks better now, without any trace of the prior insanity in his visage. His eyes are back in their silver shade. Soobin can see the glitter of silver specks swimming in the pair of silver orbs.

As he blinks his eyes slowly, Soobin’s gaze falls onto his lips; watching how his tongue sneaks out from between the tiers to lap the remnants of Soobin’s blood coating them. The moonlight shining upon them as the only lighting in the dark alley only makes this sight even more breathtaking.

It’s the most beautiful sight Soobin has ever seen in his immortalized life.

And then Beomgyu is looking at him, holding onto Soobin’s cheek with his blood stained fingers.

“I found you,” he breathes out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 bites in one chapter..... finally this is a vampire fic


	17. Chapter 17

Yeonjun has done his share of bad deeds in his life.

It’s not a prideful moment for him to say that it didn’t happen only in the beginning of his life as a vampire, where he was blinded by power and lust, having no one to control his feeding. His moral compass was in disarray at all time; not like he had to go by human’s standards. He was never a human, after all. Even after decades or a century of living among humans, the dark part inside him was still dominating.

The council was founded just to give powers for these purebloods to kill the other vampires that did not suit their way of living. It was so different from how it is right now. Everyone had the authority to enforce their ‘power’ as long as they are recognized as a member. In result, blood was spilled every other day.

It also created the most heinous system they ever invented: the recruitment.

“We are running low of decent newborns, don’t you think we should make some?” that was the initial suggestion that came from none other than Haru.

His former best friend, the vampire who owned a mouth so sweet, it trapped so many people into his deception. All the humans he found delightful of company ended up with a bite on their necks and a gruesome death when they ended up becoming ferals from giving in too far into their bloodthirst.

After turning them into vampires, Haru would send them over to Yeonjun, who was in charge of drilling fears into their minds. They had to learn who’s the ones with authority, and then finally let off to some dying neighbourhood to feed on innocent humans until they fed enough to gain sanity, or insanity. There’s no in between.

Only 10% would come back, while the rest were killed for turning into ferals.

The system was faulty, but they didn’t know any better back then. There was no remorse either, seeing all the humans who were sucked dry of their blood, because they still had the mindset that vampires were better than their living, walking bloodbags.

That was the case, until Choi Soobin was brought into his supervision. Inside a cage.

It was a funny sight, especially since the newborn looked anything but dangerous. He was listless and unresponsive most of time, eyes blank, probably still replaying the horror from the night he turned. He was pretty much useless in this state, especially since he didn’t want to complete his transformation.

A human who refused a blessing of being turned into a powerful, immortal being? That didn’t make sense to Yeonjun.

Every time someone shoved an unconscious human body for him to feed on, Soobin would go for the vampire instead, eyes red and filled with so much hatred that would scare even the bravest soul. And that’s how he ended up in the cage, with his hands bound by dirty silver chain. It was always an entertainment for Yeonjun every time he had to visit the newborn.

“Your blood is still mainly human, so if you don’t want to eat, you will be eaten. That’s how the world works, bunny,” the vampire said then, extending his hand inside the cage, only to withdraw it again when Soobin gnashed his teeth at him. “Now that’s more like it. Drink the fucking blood before I tear your throat.”

Still, he refused to turn.

Soobin only turned during one of those fucked-up attack nights Haru planned for the newborns in order to satiate their feral minds. _Feed until you can’t feed anymore_. That’s the motto of this operation, and it kept going because that’s the only thing they knew to do.

Just like any other newborn who only knew bloodthirst in their heads, Soobin had joined in the feast. What Yeonjun didn’t expect was for the newborn to stagger towards his car at the end of the first night. His clothes dripping with blood, more than the amount he consumed, probably. Seeing how his eyes were still red, but he was not going insane with hunger.

“Please don’t make me drink their blood anymore. _Please_. You can keep me in a cage and torture me all day, but not this. Please take me back!”

His begging was so pathetic, that Yeonjun didn’t have the heart to laugh. But it amazed him, that Soobin wasn’t reduced into his feral state like the other newborns who were released into this area. They had to be so close into losing their mind first before getting better, after all.

This was the seed of an idea that humans could be turned into vampires without being ferals instantly or having to overconsume. The idea gradually developed into a new training system that Yeonjun tried on Soobin first, who was content just being in pain rather than killing people.

It worked the day Yeonjun came into the room where Soobin was kept, and saw the newborn sitting straight on his bed, staring calmly at Yeonjun. His eyes gleaming in their calm, silver shade.

Choi Soobin had a strong mentality as a human, that he brought into his vampire self. Even then, he still had a relapse when he had to kill a feral a few months later.

Newborns are unstable until they are not.

That’s also the reason why Yeonjun can’t take the risk and allow Taehyun to execute his plans.

It’s just his luck that Taehyun is not so careful in committing his crimes.

Who would just walk into his target’s apartment building without any disguise? Blazing red hair, completed with the face that anyone would recognize from a mile away. He shouldn’t be so surprised when he was caught by a hand clasped over his mouth the moment he stepped into the building. It was followed by an arm grabbing around his waist, dragging him towards the emergency staircase.

He tries to break free, making use of his exercised muscles to the fullest. But to no avail since Yeonjun is stronger. At least he is smart enough to stop fighting the moment he heard Yeonjun’s voice.

“You really shouldn’t have confided me in your little scheme,” he says, lips almost touching Taehyun’s earlobe.

The other visibly sags at the recognition, only his quick breathing could be heard inside the secluded confinement. Until Yeonjun finally drops his arms, and he whips himself around in a fighting stance, pure anger set ablaze in his eyes.

“Why do you have to stop me? You’re such a hypocrite. Didn’t you kill a lot of people? Why can’t I do the same?”

“I couldn’t care less about you killing them,” Yeonjun shrugs nonchalantly. “But even if you kill him, the copies of the footage would still be around. Mind you, the footage has _me_ in it, so I can’t just let it spread.”

“Since when do you care about that?”

He doesn’t. But he’s not about to tell Taehyun his real intention of doing this.

Especially not the part where Taehyun reminds me of his soulmate who went on a revenge killing spree after the first time she had a taste of a kill.

“I’ll show you a better way to deal with this.”

==

When Taehyun made an impulsive plan to end the blackmailing by this shitty company, he certainly didn’t expect the night to proceed with him and Yeonjun together in a dark meeting room at the company building. He stares at the old vampire, who is acting much like a kid, swivelling around on his wheely chair.

“I can’t believe you were planning to attack him at his home. Don’t you know that you have to be invited in by humans before you can enter a living place?”

Taehyun chokes at that. “What? So some of those vampire stories are true—“

“It was a joke,” Yeonjun stares at him with an impassive face, just before an annoying smile takes over his face as he barks a laughter.

Childish. If no one told him, Taehyun wouldn’t have guessed that this guy has lived for over a century already. Perhaps his mental age had frozen on the day his heart stopped beating. Perhaps his brain cells died with him that day too.

Despite the irritation he feels, there’s a small sense of relief betraying him when he saw Yeonjun back then. He hadn’t really thought about the details when he took off to his manager’s apartment, only letting his anger got the best of him. All the intention dissipated the moment this vampire dragged him to his car and make him set up an urgent appointment with the hyung instead. He wondered if he would have regretted it if he got to murder the man for real.

“So, what’s your plan?” he asks, grabbing the back of Yeonjun’s chair to make him stop spinning and start taking this seriously.

He has called the manager half an hour prior, and the guy must be on his way to the company. There’s no one in this floor since the working hours are over, so no one would catch them in action.

Sometimes he hates that Choi Yeonjun is smart and sensible enough when it comes to this kind of thing.

“Are you going to tell me your plan when you visited his place, then?” Yeonjun asks instead, looking up and staring straight into Taehyun’s eyes.

It’s the way the pair of eyes are locked with his own that makes him unable to think of an excuse, reducing him to just stand there with his lips shut tightly. Even as the pureblood’s lips are curled into a kitten smile.Challenging.

“Thought so.”

Before he can open his mouth to retort, the door to the meeting room swings open. Kwakmin saunters into the room, looking like he’s lost too much sleep to deal with nonsense. When Taehyun turns his gaze back to the chair, Yeonjun is gone.

If that fucker left him to deal with this on his own…

“You couldn’t pick a better time to sign the contract?” the older man says with a sigh.

He just realized now how old his manager looks, probably went through a lot to deal with the cancelled gigs during the time of Taehyun’s transition. Everyone just assumed that he got involved with drugs, but the male never questioned it about it, just cared about getting Taehyun back in the blitz.

Just thinking that he was about to kill this person just an hour ago makes his stomach stirs with guilt.

“Sorry. Just don’t want to change my mind suddenly later on,” he says, going along with the conversation.

“I’m glad you came to your senses, Taehyun-ah,” he says, gathering the papers from his bag and pushed the stack towards Taehyun, along with a pen. “We were the ones who built your career after all, so it’s just right that you’re staying with us. It’s saddening that we had to use the video to come into this agreement.”

It’s true in a way. Taehyun picked this company to build him into this face recognized by many people. He was grateful to them, despite disagreeing with their decisions on a lot occasions. For example, this contract’s details.

“Still. A seven-years contract, where you guys reduced my percentage of share. Isn’t 70% too much for you?”

Kwakmin averts his gaze, clearing his throat. “It had to be done.”

An entertainment company is strictly business no matter what. In the end, it all comes back to financial decision.

He tries hard to swallow a scoff as he picks up the pen. “My lawyer will be—“

Before the ink could leave a mark on top of the white paper, Taehyun’s attention is stolen by a flash of movement at his peripheral vision. It’s Yeonjun, jumping up from wherever he was hiding and seizing the manager from behind.

“Hello, sir,” he says with a smile. One that won’t fool anyone despite how sweet it is, because of the darkness in his eyes. “Thank you for keeping that video of me.”

Before any of the two can utter a single word, there’s a glint of white canine peeking out from Yeonjun’s parted lips, before the sharp ends are buried deep inside Kwakmin’s skin. Taehyun sits stunned there, watching as his manager’s eyes go into a daze, before the horror settled in him.

“What are you doing?” he hisses at Yeonjun, getting up from his seat to launch himself over the table separating them.

But the vampire didn’t take long in consuming the blood. He tears his head back, blood glistening on his plush lips, and lapped off by his tongue as he throws a disinterested glance at Taehyun. It’s holding a silent challenge, daring the redhead to interrupt his scheme.

The blood-stained lips curled up into a smirk seeing how Taehyun is still stunned there.

“Now, listen to me, Mr. Manager,” he says, fingers grabbing onto the dark locks of the human to turn his head to look at him. The eyes behind his glasses are still swimming with ecstasy from being fed on, and Yeonjun’s own sharp gaze is boring into them. “Hey, friend. Remember where you keep the video files you’re using to blackmail Taehyun? Great. Now erase them all. Every. Single. One. Also, please call everyone who’s aware about this and tell them that the video was your own edit. Can you do that for us?”

There’s no single bit of threat in his voice as he asks that. Almost politely, even. And it surprises Taehyun when Kwakmin gets up from his seat, staggering towards the computer in the room and starts working on it. Taehyun stares at the exchange with wide eyes, staggering backwards until he sits back on his seat, which wheeled back from the force until it hits the wall.

“What… what was that?” he asks shakily.

Yeonjun turns his attention towards him. “Compulsion. It’s something that can be done by some purebloods after feeding. Sick, I know. But no one needs to find out.”

“Is that even legal?” Taehyun asks quietly, unable to grasp the concept yet and ended up coming with the dumbest question.

At this, the vampire scoffs. The faintest hint of smirk gracing his lips.

“I am the law.”

===

It feels like being woken up from a month long of sleep when Beomgyu opens his eyes.

How long has it been already since he had control of his own body? Every time he lost his grip on it, the time gap keeps getting longer and longer. He remembers slipping after that woman bit him back at the street near the hotel, remember thinking that _this is it, this is where I become a monster._

In contrary to his intense fear at that moment, he wakes up in the comfort of a bed. The taste of blood lingers on his tongue as usual, and he is ready to go through his memories, finding out who he attacked and finally breaking down with guilt.

Before he can do that, he feels a source of warmth pressing against his thigh as he sits down on the bed. It probably makes a comical picture when he turns his head to his side, only to see a mess of lilac hair peeking out from the blanket. He slaps a hand over his mouth to stifle his surprised gasp. Eyes open wide as he stares at the male once he pulls the blanket down, blinking a few times to make sure that it’s really Choi Soobin himself and not just a figment of his imagination.

It might as well be one, since Soobin looks just like how he did back then when he found him dozing off at the orphanage’s field. The difference is just that he looks way prettier with the broken white sheets and blankets around him. The morning sunshine filters through the window at just the right angle to illuminate his face. Soobin’s nose twitches at the sudden warmth.

“This can’t be him…” he exhales, tilting his head as he cranes his neck to take a better look at the vampire.

Wrong move.

The hand caught him on the front of his shirt, immobilizing him, before Soobin’s eyes snapped open, staring straight into his own.

It takes three seconds before he registers what’s happening. A yell escaped him as he tries to get away with way too much force that sends him tumbling down the small bed, carrying the blanket along with him. A supposedly graceful pureblood vampire is reduced into a bunch of blanket mess on the floor. Making a fool of himself. What’s new?

“Did I surprise you? My bad,” Soobin’s voice comes closer, along with the rustles of sheets.

Beomgyu’s eyes are shut tight as he stays under the cover of the blanket.

It would be a lie if he said that he never thought about meeting the guy again. He knew that it was inevitable, that even if Beomgyu hadn’t specifically asked him to, Soobin would still hunt him down. His moral is too high to let a nearly feral vampire walks around the city unsupervised.

Still, he never figured out what to say. He assumed it would just be a losing battle on his side, that Soobin would just stake him the moment he spots Beomgyu.

But here he is, on the floor, after waking up on the same bed with the vampire officer himself.

“Earth to Beomgyu. Are you having a mental breakdown after what you said to me last night? It was a little corny, but it’s fine—“

“NO!” he yells again, pulling the blanket off his head and snapping his gaze up towards the bed, only to lose his breath when his head almost collided with Soobin’s. The guy is peeking down towards him, too close for his comfort. “I’m just waiting to remember, okay.”

“There wasn’t much to remember. You bit me.”

“I bit you,” he deadpans.

The way Soobin said it so casually is enough to make him grow suspicious.

That’s when the memories started flooding into his head. The biting, the hunting down the dark alleys, the interruption from another vampire that made him attack the officer instead.And then the bite. The sweet substance filling his mouth, and as it trickles down his throat, it makes him full in the way he never felt before.

It was the feeling of being content, of taking the first breath in the surface after diving into salt water, of seeing a smile so breathtaking it made your dead heart beats.

It was the feeling of finding your soulmate.

“Let me get this straight. Instead of staking a feral like me, you just let me attack you and drink your blood?”

Soobin shrugs, pushing himself into a sitting position on the bed.

“I offered to let you drink my blood and you kiss—“

Before he could finish his statement, there are more noises of animalistic growls and rustling of blanket and sheet, followed by a yelp as Beomgyu launches himself up to attack the officer. Their position is switched now, with Beomgyu crawling on the bed while Soobin has half his body on the floor. His legs stayed suspended on the edge of the bed in an awkward position.

“Uncalled for!”

“What the fuck, Choi Beomgyu?” Soobin screams at him.

It elicits a smile on the pureblood’s lips, finding the exchange the most fun he had over the past weeks since the nightmare happened. Now that he focuses on his needs, he is not feeling the constant hunger clawing on his stomach like what he’s accustomed to.

For once in his life, he feels so _full_.

And it’s because of Choi Soobin.

“Why did you do that?” he asks, not bothering to peek over the edge of the bed to look at the other vampire. “You could’ve just killed me and get it over with. Why did you have to take the risk?”

“I had a hunch. Even before that incident at your brother’s house, I’ve always wanted to propose the idea. But it doesn’t make sense, no matter how much you think about it.”

It doesn’t make sense that the mate Beomgyu had been looking for throughout his life is actually a vampire. It doesn’t make sense, that he was fated to be a mateless forever if Soobin hadn’t turned into a vampire. It doesn’t make sense, that drinking from a vampire could nourish him like this.

Nothing about them makes sense, but it does explain the feeling blooming in his chest every time he is around the lilac haired vampire.

“You took such a risk. If I hadn’t been your mate, you’d be dead,” he sighs, finally crawling over to get a look at Soobin, who is still being an idiot, lying down on the floor. “I’d have ripped your throat apart. Then your heart.”

Instead of an indignant look thrown at him like every other time they are bickering, he is met with a pair of soft eyes locked with his own instead.

“That’s because I’m in love with you,” Soobin says. “ _too_.”

==

Soobin finds himself buried under a pile of pillows after his ‘confession’, which is ironic, because he is basically just answering Beomgyu’s confession from that night the vampire kissed him.

Choi Beomgyu as a person is a complicated compound of emotions. He is the one who told Soobin the _Love_ word twice and kissed him, but he’s also the one who freaks out the first time Soobin actually had a chance to return them.

But then that’s what makes him so endearing and easy to love.

Getting up from the floor, he saunters towards the closed bathroom door, which was slammed so hard when the vampire disappeared inside. His lip is trapped between his teeth as he holds back his laughter.

“How can you just run off like that after you found your soulmate, Beomgyu? I was expecting a warmer welcome.”

“Shut up!” comes the muffled reply from inside.

He rolls his eyes. Fist coming down to bang on the wooden surface. “Unlock this before I take it off its hinges.”

Instead of another bratty retort he expected Beomgyu to make, he is met by silence instead. One thing that he has learned about the vampire during the time he knows him is that Beomgyu always had something to say. When he is silent, he would be deep in thought, worrying his lower lip between his teeth or his finger nails. After being so deep in his own thoughts, he would bounce back into the conversation again.

So he waits, his forehead leaned against the door.

“You’re not really in love with me,” Beomgyu says. His voice sounds so close that he might just be right on the other side of the door. “It’s just the soulmate thing making you think that you had a feeling for me when it’s just a trick to let me feed from you.”

“It really doesn’t work like that,” he sucks in a breath through his teeth, exasperated that he can’t make Beomgyu feel what he is feeling

“Then _how?_ ”

“Vampire-human soulmate bonds are usually platonic. The humans are no more than a walking bloodbag plus mental support, since they know what the vampire is feeling through the bite.”

“I don’t need to be educated about my own identity.”

“So what, you want to educate me instead?” he gives another bang on the door, this time a little weaker. “I don’t know what else that you want from me, Beomgyu.”

The silence starts engulfing again, and it stays just long enough to let the fear bloom inside Soobin’s chest. If he can’t convince the latter that his feeling is real, he might really lose him this time.

He can’t go through another period of sleepless night and fear of finding Beomgyu staked by his own colleagues on a random street.

“Beomgyu—“

Before he can plead some more and sacrifice his pride, the door swings open abruptly. He lost his balance, almost stumbling forward right into Beomgyu who’s standing inside the bathroom. His jaw set, while his eyes still cast the solemn look – the deep dark sea water under the starless sky, that Soobin wants to swim so he can understand what is troubling him.

The vampire looks up at him. “Prove it.”

“What?”

“Prove that you’re actually in love with me,” Beomgyu says firmly, just before he is back to his gleeful state as a challenging smile forms on his lips. “Take me on a date.”

===

“You didn’t have to kill him.”

Kai snaps his eyes open hearing the voice speaking from outside the bedroom. He was nearly falling asleep,mildly registering that someone was coming into the apartment, which could only be Taehyun.

The key coming to his possession had come as a blessing, knowing that he can use it whenever he wanted to see his boyfriend. He always finds it lonesome ever since he started living on his own, after all. So, he can’t turn down the opportunity to sleep on Taehyun’s bed.

On the day he decided to carry out the intention, Taehyun is bringing someone else home. As if it’s not bad enough, they are now talking about murders.

“He deserved it for being an ass and a blackmailer. Besides, he would’ve been dead earlier if I hadn’t stopped you,” that’s Yeonjun’s voice, judging from the nasal tone dripping from the words.

That caught Kai’s attention some more, making him frown and get up from the bed to get closer to the door. He hates that he’s just full-on eavesdropping now.

“We don’t speak of that.”

“You have that fire inside you, a potential,” Yeonjun’s voice comes up again, followed by a soft a hitch of breath from the latter. It’s funny because Taehyun barely needs to breathe anymore ever since he turned. “I can train you to be like Soobin, we could use some of that passion and energy for good. Someday.”

“Someday.”

“You have forever to spend, so there’s no rush. For now, you can stay detached with us like what you’re doing right now.”

They do have forever. Yeonjun and Taehyun.

A corner of Kai’s lips turned up into a derisive smile at the thought. He leans his forehead to rest against the cold surface of the wood, trying to suppress the vile thoughts from filling up his head again.

It’s been successful these days, especially since Taehyun finally returned his feelings.

Those thoughts that he will just remain disposable in Taehyun’s life, that he is just one of the lovers he will have in his eternity. It always makes his heart ache, knowing that he will never be a part of Taehyun’s eternity.

The guy doesn’t even want him to be one.

“So you’re really doing it, huh? With Hueningkai?”Yeonjun’s mention of his name gathers his attention back to their conversations. He focuses on the conversation again, starting to be unabashed about the intrusion of privacy.

“I’m not dating him because of your suggestion, just so you know.”

Suggestion? Kai frowns. That doesn’t sound pleasant.

“But it works, so what’s your problem?”

“It does. He quitted your stupid council and I had forgotten about not being a human anymore for a while. But this is just a temporary solution, right? It’s like we’re just fooling ourselves.”

“You think you’re fooling yourself by dating him?”

“It’s not like that!” Taehyun snaps, only to lower his voice after that. “Whatever, I can’t have a serious conversation with you. Just take your payment and go home.”

There’s a sound of bottles bumping onto one another, followed by some curses and complaints from the other vampire, but at this point, Kai is already tuning them out. He walks as soundlessly as possible towards the bed, back under the comfort of the blanket.

Even the blanket can’t shield his mind from developing more troubling thoughts after what he just heard. There is no other way to take a conclusion of that conversation. Taehyun might as well had told him to his face that they’re only dating so he could stop Kai from being a vampire while at the same time using him to reconnect with his former, mundane life.

It didn’t come as a surprise, finding out that Taehyun is not actually in love with him.

After all, it had been one sided for so many years. Kai is only deluding himself into thinking that it’s possible, and Taehyun just used it to his advantage.

He hates himself more, that he still can’t bring himself to hate Kang Taehyun for this.

It’s impossible to fall asleep after all that, so Kai stays awake into the night. He is still awake when Yeonjun finally leaves and Taehyun comes into the room. The vampire halts his steps by the door, probably caught off guard by the presence of the human sleeping in his bed.

He is still awake when Taehyun climbs into the bed and settles behind him. His arm wrapped around his waist and his chest pressed to his back.

“Good night, Kai-yah,” he whispers.

This position used to bring so much comfort to Kai. Taehyun doesn’t have any qualms about body contacts, which includes cuddling or linking arms. It’s just one of the things that keep him in love for so long. Except this time, it only makes Kai feel sick in the stomach.

It’s the way he’s suddenly aware of cold Taehyun’s body is, contrasting with the warmth provided by the blanket around them. It all feels too obvious now, as his senses are heightened. He can even feel the lack of heartbeat from Taehyun’s chest, reminding him that they live in different worlds now, despite his hopeless attempts to bring Taehyun back to him.


	18. Chapter 18

“So, here’s how this date goes,” Beomgyu says as soon as they walk out from the hotel building. “We will go to five places in two days and we take turns deciding the destination.”

He looks energized, despite his constant complaining about the poor service of the hotel and that Soobin didn’t bring his car. There is no mistaking the spring on his steps as he walks ahead of Soobin on the street towards the bigger road, looking way too happy for a vampire who is exposed to sunlight.

It’s not his fault that Soobin can’t resist the urge to tease.

“And I thought you wanted  _ me _ to take you on the date. Seems like you’ve been thinking about this.”

Beomgyu halts his steps just to turn around and smile sweetly at the other, though with a dangerous twitch of an eye.

“Shut up and just go along with it.”

Here is how their date goes:

Their first destination is an uncharacteristic coming from the usually loud and vibrant vampire. It’s located in a neighbourhood town. Somewhere with a lot more population and tourists than the one they stayed at, so it’s just a given that Soobin expected something more  _ Beomgyu _ .

That’s why it takes him a moment to come into his senses when he registers what the place actually is. He’s standing by the entrance with his lips slightly parted and eyes staring blankly at what’s displayed in front of them.

“It’s a museum.”

Meanwhile, Beomgyu is tapping his foot impatiently. “No shit. Are you coming?”

“You’re not the type to visit a place like this,” the lilac haired vampire is still wondering even as they walk inside the place.

“I’m not the type to go on a date either.”

Before Soobin could counter that statement, there is a sound of someone clearing their throat. They instantly turn their attention towards the source, and Beomgyu jumps slightly at the presence of a tiny postured woman already standing by their side. Too quiet to be noticed.

“Excuse me. Visitors are required to keep the calm and serene state of the museum,” she says sharply, gesturing towards a board by the entrance that they forgot to take a notice of.

So that’s why it’s been eerily quiet ever since they stepped into the area. There are a few people scattered around the outdoor and indoor parts of the building, yet no one seems to be speaking or discussing the arts.

The biggest challenge about this one rule is to not laugh out loud, seeing that Beomgyu is still in the state of shock from her sudden appearance. He hasn’t even noticed that he’s hugging Soobin’s arm, seemingly shrinking into the taller’s side.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, we will be quieter!” he says, a little too loudly that he receives a glare in return, before his naturally loud voice is reduced into a squeak. “I’m sorry.”

When the woman finally leaves with a sour look on her face, Soobin can’t help but to release a snort, earning him a smack on the arm. But he doesn’t let Beomgyu pull his hand back. Since their arms are already tangled, he takes advantage of it to keep their arms linked throughout the mini tour they do around the place.

After twenty minutes just walking and staring at the paintings, Soobin decided that none of them is having much fun. Beomgyu looks to be deep in thought at times while staring at the piece of art, only for him to blink a few times later, as if just snapped out of his deep thought.

“The advertisement said it’d be fancy, but this is a little boring,” someone passes by behind them, and apparently forgot to lower their voice as they discuss the visit.

A shushing sound could be heard from across the room, and then Soobin’s eyes found Beomgyu’s, before they broke into a silent laughter.

“Don’t say it,” Soobin whispers, leaning in to knock his head gently against the other’s.

“Why can’t I? It’s fucking boring,” he hisses in return.

Another  _ a-hem _ sounds from the receptionist desk, and it seems to snap off the last thread of Beomgyu’s patience. The vampire might look scary in fights, as Soobin has had the honor of witnessing twice already, but this irritated look in his face – the roll of eyes and twist of his lips to a side, just looks dangerous. Like he could make a brand new painting for the museum out of a shade of red alone.

Before anything close to it could happen, Soobin grabs him by the shoulders and steers him towards the exit of the place. He makes a quick apologetic bow as they pass the woman, while distracting her attention from Beomgyu’s annoyed glare that could match hers.

As soon as they are back on the street, Beomgyu doubles over and  _ yells. _ It comes out way too loud, that it gathers the attention of several people on the street, throwing them a weird look.

“That was the worst experience in my life! Why would you open a public space and not let people breathe? It’s an art museum, why are people not allowed to discuss the art? What are you going to gain from sta—HEY!”

That one particular yell that punctuates his series of complaints is the loudest Soobin has heard from him so far, but it could just be caused by how close Beomgyu is to his ear. He should’ve seen it coming when he grabs the vampire and throws him over his shoulder to carry him away and save them from the shame.

“Let me down! What the fuck, Choi Soobin?” The vampire is now punching on his back, making him roll his eyes, but only tightens his grip some more around him not to let the younger fall.

“I would stay still if I were you. Brain aneurysm from being dropped head first from this height could kill you in a painful way.”

“Not sure what that is but it sounds bad,” Beomgyu says, finally going limp on Soobin’s hold. Fingers gripping onto the officer’s shirt as if he’s really scared to be dropped. That’s adorable.

Finally, some peace.

Soobin doesn’t let go of the load on his shoulder, keeps walking away from the museum while his date is still being unusually cooperative. “You were so deep in thought inside there, I was thinking you started to enjoy the paintings.”

“They are beautiful, but just in an aesthetic way,” Beomgyu says. “There is this one painting that made me think for real, though. Not about the painting itself but just… the concept?”

“What was it about?”

“A ghost town, abandoned village. It just made me feel lonely for some reasons.

If he takes notice of how Soobin has grown silent and distant all of sudden, he is not voicing it. Neither does Soobin, seeing how the voices in his head are louder than Beomgyu’s yelling just moments ago.

The second place they are visiting is not far from the museum, and still connected with the concept of traditional arts. The whole village is centred on historical and traditional cultures from the past, so there are a lot of monumental buildings and museums.

Except this time, there is no restricting rule or eagle eyes scrutinizing them. Beomgyu barely got over his irritation and that’s just because he got carried all the way here.

“Cheater. It’s basically just another museum!” Beomgyu complains once they reach the place. He is already set back up on his feet after promising not to yell if he hates the place Soobin picks for their second visit.

“It’s different, though! This one is not about the arts, more of the history,” the other says defensively, gesturing towards the house. It’s a big one, probably owned by a nobleman in the Joseon era. Beomgyu couldn’t care less about the whole aristocracy. Too suffocating.

“I’ve heard stories about this place,” Soobin speaks again, probably noticing his silence as he looks around the interior of the house with a disinterested look.

“What kind of stories?”

“Tragic ones.”

Beomgyu perks up instantly. “I’m in. Tell me more.”

They end up sitting on the front porch of the house. The wood feels cold through their pants, as their legs dangle off the edges facing the gently swaying tree leaves. It’s a beautiful place with a serene and calming vibe all around.

Still, for some reasons, Beomgyu can only focus on Soobin’s face. The way his plush lips move steals all his focus, especially since he already forgot how they felt in that kiss he stole that day before the storm hit.

He pinches himself at the thought.  _ Focus. _

The story known as the dark history of this house started when their youngest daughter fell in love with a commoner, and just like any other noble family that day, the parents were against their relationship. After the girl was locked up in the house, her lover came into the place one night and murdered every single person in the family, including the house maids and gardeners. The tragic ending was when the girl was accidentally killed as well.

“Sounds like a cliché, tragically so,” Beomgyu comments. Anticipation diminished from his face.

“You haven’t heard the twist!”

“If it’s bad, we are going home.”

Soobin rolls his eyes, but continues his story telling anyway.

The story was twisted throughout the decades since it was not recorded properly, but the truth never actually made it into public. At least not to the humans.

“It was actually the son who invited the tragedy into this beautiful house,” Soobin starts, gathering the other’s interest again at once.

That young, silly man fell in love with a vampire and they were in a happy relationship. That was it, until happiness was not enough anymore and they started to yearn for their own forever. When the parents found out that he had been going out with a commoner, they didn’t get to be mad about it.

It was already too late, as he got turned into a vampire already. At that time, being a newborn was a hit or miss, because there was no method on how to tame them.

“So, you know what happened in the end,” Soobin says with a smile at the end of his story. His dimples showing on his cheeks.

“They became a vampire couple and live happily ever after until present time?”

“No!”

The newborn noble son went feral and murdered his own family, and that happened when his lover was not around. When the vampire went to visit him again, everyone was already dead and the human was eaten up by guilt, so he asked his lover to kill him.

In the end, he was dead on the arms of his own lover, and then his ashes were scattered into a well.

Beomgyu frowns. “That doesn’t make sense. If he already killed that many people, the best thing to do is to honour their deaths and live on.”

“Not everyone can carry that much guilt without going mad.”

The guilt. Right. Normal people would feel that. He  _ did _ feel it that day he accidentally killed the donor lady. The first time he lost control while feeding.

But Beomgyu is a hypocrite. Even before going feral, he was already out feeding on unwilling humans on the dark streets. Sometimes he left them barely alive, craving for the thrill of being the predator who decided whether the human would live or not.

It makes his stomach twist when he thinks about it now. He finally understands why Soobin wanted to arrest him so much back then.

His thoughts are cut off by cold fingers reaching for his own. At first only laying on top of his hand before they slot in between his digits, locking their hands together in a hold. It’s a silent comforting gesture, sending warmth through his system in contrast to their cold skin.

When he looks up, Soobin offers him a smile. “Wanna see the well?”

“The well actually exists?”

“Of course. I told you it’s the actual story. The pureblood vampire who had to kill his lover still lived on to this day after all,” Soobin says, but refusing to add more details into it as he hops off the wooden platform they are sitting on.

He tugs Beomgyu along with him, almost sending him to bump against the other. It’s sickening that the small things like this makes Beomgyu feel all warm like teenagers in love.

It’s his luck that he’s not human enough to blush, at least.

They go around the big house, walking through a perfectly mowed lawn decorated with flowers and trimmed bush. There are some people gathering around something when they get to the open space of the backyard. Once they get closer, he notices that the people are throwing some coins. There are also some coins that are missing, scattered around the stone circular walls of the well.

“How did it become a wishing well?” Beomgyu throws a look at the latter, incredulous.

“Humans believe what they want to believe.”

Beomgyu walks closer to the edge of the well, peeking into the dark abyss, deep under the ground. It gives him chills. “Damn, I would rise from the dead if I were him. Just to get rich from all the coins.”

The absentminded comment goes unnoticed. He realizes soon enough as he turns around to face his date, who is now staring down at their hands instead of the well. It gives Beomgyu more chill than the well, the way Soobin’s thumb moves gently along the pads of his fingers.

“You have calluses on your fingers.”

“I was into guitar as a teenager. So yeah, they are permanently there even once I turned.”

“It’s nice,” Soobin smiles, intertwining their fingers again as if that’s the most natural thing.Like they haven’t just started doing this a few hours ago. “I can recognize your touch anywhere now.”

He’d like to think that the shivers he is feeling comes from the cold wind and not because Soobin affects him that much.

==

“Oh, Soobin hyung texted.”

The mention of the name instantly caught Kai’s attention from the game he was playing in his phone. His gaze flitted towards the vampire who was leaning over the kitchen’s counter, sipping on a blood bag like he was just enjoying his breakfast milkshake.

“Why is he texting you?” he asks, arching a brow.

“I asked him to, since he said that he was going to go find Beomgyu hyung,” Taehyun throws him a look, particularly, to his phone screen. “Your cookie just did a free fall and you didn’t rescue it in time.”

Kai curses under his breath, tossing his phone aside sulkily. That earns a tinkling laughter from across the room. Taehyun always has the most adorable sound of laughter he has ever heard.

“Did he find Beomgyu hyung?”

“Yeah, but he’s not replying anymore. I’m assuming that they’re not going back anytime soon, especially because of all the mess around here before hyung ran away.”

No matter how much Kai likes to listen to the other speak, he’d rather listen to some stories about magic or the latest political news Taehyun was into. He doesn’t need to be reminded constantly about the chasm that is separating their worlds. How different their lives are right now, and that his place is not by Taehyun’s side anymore.

Especially now, he is not in the right mood to be thinking about vampires after what he heard last night.

Sighing, he gets up from the comfort of his couch, walking towards where the vampire is. The blood bag is discarded already, thankfully, leaving Taehyun busy tapping away on his phone.

“I thought we’re cutting off our connections with them.”

Taehyun lifts his gaze, blinking a few times when he finds that Kai is already standing across him, separated by the counter between them. “We are. I just needed to know that Beomgyu hyung is okay, then I don’t have any reason to care about them anymore.”

“Good!” Kai smiles brightly. Switching back into his bubbly self is not something difficult for him to do, even if he feels otherwise.

“No schedules today?” Taehyun asks, switching the topic.

“All cancelled. There was a murder in the company, so everyone’s occupied with that,” he says, keeping his gaze to every emotion crossing Taehyun’s eyes. He’s a good actor, but Kai has known him for too many years, enough for him to understand the guy more than himself.

“Oh. That.”

“I’m actually amazed that you’re taking it so calmly, especially since he was your manager for years.”

“There’s nothing I can do anyway,” he tries to switch the topic, not lingering too long in it since there’s only so much Taehyun can say without spilling his secrets. “Let’s just see the silver lining, we got a day off at the same day for once.”

“Good. Just stay with me,” Kai smiles, leaning in to steal a kiss from Taehyun’s lips. Just like what couples do.

Except, Taehyun leans away from him before their lips could touch. And he knows that he’s fucked up, eyes wide as he stares at the human. His lips fall open, probably trying to come up with an excuse. His brain didn’t work quickly enough for him, as he could probably see the pain in Kai’s face already, poorly masked by a sneer, since he doesn’t care enough to hide it.

“You’re a good actor, but you’re really bad at this one, hyunnie.”

“No, wait, I didn’t mean to do that.“

Kai has just turned around to leave when Taehyun caught up with him, blocking his way towards the front door with his body. He feels disassociated from his body now. The eyes that are giving a cold stare at this best friend—his boyfriend, now—are betraying him. It's not him. Neither is this person who speaks so bitterly that Taehyun recoils at the tone of his words.

“Yeah, because you were supposed to indulge me in this whole dating game, right? Make Huening Kai happy just so he won’t go around and play vampire.”

“What are you talking about?” Taehyun frowns, irritation starts seeping into his expression now. Like he has any right to.

“What did Yeonjun suggest? That you date me so I would stop trying to be a vampire?” he spits, scoffing at the unmistakable horror filling the other’s face. “When we became friends, it was Hyejoo’s idea too, that you should open up to more people. Can you ever think for yourself, Kang Taehyun?”

The mention of their friend’s name causes Taehyun’s jaws to harden. Anger flashing in his eyes. “Don’t bring her into this.”

“What? You’re getting angry now? You know full well how long I’ve been in love with you and you’re using it to get what you want. That’s the fucking point, Taehyun. Not Hyejoo or that killer Choi Yeonjun!”

“You heard us last night,” Taehyun says, realization just dawned on him now. The anger slowly drains from his face as he reaches out to tug on the sleeve of Kai’s sweater instead. Almost desperate. “You don’t understand—please let me explain.”

“There’s only one thing I don’t understand…” Kai averts his gaze to not see the redhead anymore, snatching his hand away from the grip.

“Kai, please—“

“I just don’t understand why, even when we’re in a relationship, it’s so hard for you to actually be in love with me.”

The bitterness in his voice is enough to keep Taehyun frozen in the spot. Kai spares him no other glance as he side-steps him, leaving the apartment and their short lived relationship.

Another thing he doesn’t understand is that he still can’t bring himself to hate Taehyun for this.

==

“What did you wish for?”

Beomgyu looks up from the folded pamphlet he is reading. His attention has been occupied by the informative texts and the smell of the farm animals and grass that it takes him a moment to direct his gaze back to his date, who is not trying to hide his amused smile seeing his confused look.

“Huh?”

“At the wishing well yesterday.You looked so serious when you threw in that coin, like you really wanted it to happen.”

“I will tell you at the end of the date.”

“You seem to have everything planned,” Soobin ponders, about to bombard him with questions when a pamphlet is shoved to his face, making him sputter through his words.

“Stop thinking and let’s hope that these animals won’t attack us.”

The visit to the farmyard on their second day of the date does raise some questions, especially since it is not a common date spot. Another thing to consider is the mutual hatred Beomgyu shares with animals. Now that he is exposing himself in the way of a bunch of cattle with the power to trample him, Soobin can’t help but to anticipate something funny to happen.

“They seem like peaceful animals,” Soobin says, staring at the rows of sheep separated by fences in front of them. “And I don’t think animals can hate you just because you’re a vampire. I never had any problem with them.”

Beomgyu gives him a look.

“A cat clawed my face when I was a baby, and unfortunately, that was my earliest memory in life. And then I went on a camping trip in elementary school, only to have my tent invaded by wild raccoons while my friends’ were left untouched.”

It’s the way Beomgyu is telling these stories with such an impassive look in his face that makes it even funnier. It takes a lot for the elder to stop himself from breaking into a fit of giggles, and he knows that the latter can feel it too, since he just keeps going.

“Whenever I visited my friends’ houses and they had a dog, those canines would pee on my shoes. There was also one time I went hiking and met a wild bear who just happened to escape from the zoo at that time, if i weren’t a vampire by then I wouldn’t have—“

“Okay okay, I get your point!” Soobin finally breaks into laughter, clutching on his stomach. “If you keep going, I won’t be able to look at you without laughing anymore!”

“I hate you.”

Soobin hums, unbothered as he stares off at the field of sheep. Some of the fluffy cattle are grassing close to the fences. They don’t really react when Soobin reaches out to touch their fur.

It’s actually a calming kind of date, one that sets his life’s pace into a slow motion. It’s as if they have all the time in the world.

That’s it, until he hears a gasp from his side. He turns his gaze curiously, meeting Beomgyu’s horrified face first and following the vampire’s eyes as they turn towards his hand that’s reached out past the gap of the fences. The hand that is now trapped inside a sheep’s mouth.

“S-soobin, are sheep supposed to do this?”

Needless to say, he’s the one who has to deal with Beomgyu’s outburst. At least he knows that the pain comes more from being humiliated than being bitten by the sheep. After landing several punches at the lilac haired vampire, Beomgyu marches away from the field. Soobin caught up to him with much difficulty since he still can’t stop laughing.

“I hate you. I really do,” Beomgyu grumbles.

“Remember when you said you love—“

“STOP THAT!”

He seems to be pushing the vampire a little too much, since Beomgyu finally snaps and throws himself at Soobin. The impact is enough to send both of them to the ground, only to realize that it’s a steep hill behind them.

Soobin barely had the time to envelop the younger vampire in his arms as they fall down the grassy hill, rolling several times until they reached the bottom. It’s just their luck that it’s a hill and not the edge of a cliff.

“Look what you’ve done,” Soobin hisses, loosening his hold around the other and peeking down to give an accusing glare at him.

He caught a pair of round eyes staring up at him, a little dazed at first, with something akin to a wave of fondness. It almost drags him into the illusion, if only it’s not for the shove on his chest that makes him realize that they’re entangled. Limbs to limbs.

“Hush. Look around you.” It’s returned with a proud smile instead, as Beomgyu reaches out to press a finger over his plush lips, stopping him from nagging further. “You’re welcome.”

That’s when he realizes that they are lying down on a grassy expanse of a field. The summer breeze caressing their cheeks and the scent of flowers caught on the wind. He pushes himself up to sit, his breath taken away by the beautiful sight of the green grass and tiny flower patches.

But it’s Beomgyu who is the most breathtaking even among all these views, lying down on the grass with the most serene look on his face. His eyelashes are casting shadows to his cheeks, looking way too pretty that Soobin can’t help but to reach out to brush his cheek with the back of his knuckles.

Before the contact could be made, however, Beomgyu’s eyes snapped open, along with his mouth. Soobin finds himself sitting there, with Beomgyu’s lips clamped over his hand as he bites down on it.

“Gotcha,” he says, pulling away with an impish grin before he gets up to run off somewhere else.

But Soobin stays stunned there, staring at the teeth indention on his hand. He closes his eyes, relishing in the burst of happiness he felt in that momentarily contact, ignited by the graze of teeth upon his skin. It’s a feeling of joy so profound inside his chest that it’s almost bursting with the overcapacity.

He is mildly wondering if the feeling came purely from Beomgyu from their soulmate bond, or that was also his own feeling. Though he doesn’t get to come up with a conclusion, as the other vampire is already calling out his name, waving at him from a good distance away.

“Chase me if you can!”

_ Always. Wherever you go, I will chase and find you, and fall for you all over again.  _ Soobin thinks, smiling to himself at the thought before he gets up to go where Beomgyu is.

Because that’s where he belongs.

==

After leaving the farm, smelling of pesticide from the grass and with their hair littered with tiny flowers from the field, they head towards the city by bus. With every bus that they take, they are getting closer to the capital city where they live.

It’s the first time Beomgyu could relax during a trip, mainly because they are not chased by schedules or obligations. It’s the first time that he takes a look at his surroundings, watching these nameless districts and villages that are non-existent to the people who live in the city. These people are usually the perfect target for vampires to feast on, and the authorities won’t even have a clue.

The thoughts are bugging him for the whole bus trip, watching the slums they passed and the people who just suit the criteria.

“You disappeared this morning,” he says out of the blue, which must have come as a surprise to the vampire who’s sitting next to him. He’s been silent the whole ride, enjoying a song they’re sharing on their earbuds.

“I went out for a bit, yes.”

“You cleaned up my mess for me, didn’t you?”

Soobin didn’t answer right away, and he’s really poor at hiding his expression when Beomgyu turns his head to look straight into his eyes.

“How many people did I kill?” Beomgyu spits the question that has been bothering him ever since he woke up after that painful night. It becomes more real the moment it materializes into words, and the fact that Soobin doesn’t seem keen to answer only makes his blood boil. “It’s bad, isn’t it? I must have caused a whole lot of damage. Don’t you have to punish me, one way or another? Are you adding these body counts into my charges?”

Being bombarded with questions makes Soobin shrink in his seat, frowning. He doesn’t seem to work well under pressure, and Beomgyu is the best at giving it.

“Soobin!”

“There are no charges, okay!” he finally speaks again, followed by an exasperated groan as he runs his hand over his face. “I  _ cleaned _ it up for good. It's an animal attack and it would stay as that for the humans who are left behind. Usually I have to find the vampire who’s at fault and get rid of them or file an arrest report.”

“So there  _ is _ a charge.”

“I’m not here for council work, Beomgyu,” Soobin snaps, his voice raised for a split second, before he realizes and sinks deeper into his seat, closing his eyes.

“You covered it up,” it finally dawned on him, what he meant by  _ cleaning _ up. “Soobin, what the fuck?”

“I want to sleep.”

Beomgyu glares at him, seeing that the vampire’s eyes are closed.

This is the vampire who snapped his neck that night he was caught feeding on a dark alley. This is also the vampire who promised that he would be charged for his crimes. And yet, he turns out to be the one who is covering up for him when he is at his lowest, fresh from committing his biggest crime ever.

Just what has he turned Choi Soobin into?

The sun is getting low on the horizons when they get to their second destination for the day, and by the time they are riding the elevator to the top floor, the light is almost gone already from the sky. They could have been there faster, if only they didn’t hang around too long on the first floor

(“I want to try the corndogs!”

“Beomgyu, you can’t even taste the corn dogs. Just leave them!”)

or if they actually browsed the directory first before jumping into the site right away.

(“Soobin, I didn’t climb up the stairs to the top floor only for you to say that we actually passed the floor earlier.”

“You didn’t say anything either.”

“Well, maybe if you actually told me what we’re doing here—“

“Okay, okay, my mistake!”)

The bickering stops as they get to the viewing area of the tower. The vast room is decorated by wall glasses that give them a good view of the city, a part of the sea, and more. The dusk sky also looks better from this up high from the ground – the combination of yellow and violet are painting the sky in random swirls.

Beomgyu is busy capturing some pictures of the sky with Soobin’s phone when he’s dragged away from the free space of the area to stand behind a tower binocular. He stares at the lenses before turning his gaze back to the other.

“You rushed me up here just so I can look through these?” he asks, unimpressed.

“You can’t see much once the sun sets,” Soobin casts another glance to the sky before pointing at the binoculars again with his chin. “I want to show you something.”

There’s still doubt inside him even as he steps forward, but his curiosity wins yet again. He’s handling the huge machine in his hands and peering in through the lenses, admiring the city view from all the angles.

It gets more enjoyable the more he’s observing, and he almost didn’t notice his date inching closer to him until he feels warmth pressed against his back. His hands froze on the sides of the tool, especially as he can feel Soobin so close to him. He feels chin rested on his shoulder, before a nudge of his nose to his cheek.

“Move over a little, let me check,” Soobin says, voice deep as he’s keeping it low.

Beomgyu just tilts his head aside, still freezing on the spot as he lets Soobin use the binoculars. It’s not like he can do anything with Soobin’s arms trapping him like this, bracketing either sides of him as he arranges the tool to his liking.

If he’s an actual human who still needs to breathe, he would be hyperventilating by now, forgetting how to breathe because of the proximity they are in.

“Okay, look over here,” he is snapped back to the present time when Soobin speaks again, already leaning away from the lenses.

He gives the elder a look before peering in again, registering the view of some lousy house buildings and small alleys. It looks like a typical neighbourhood, only with less people around. Or lights. It just gets darker as he keeps observing, and the sun is losing its shine. As the other neighbourhoods are set alight with street lamps, this one only gets darker and darker, until it’s swallowed up by darkness.

“It was my hometown. A small, nameless little district in the outskirts of the city,” Soobin says. His words float in the air for a moment, until it clicks in Beomgyu’s head. That’s the place Soobin came from. The place where he…

“It’s a ghost town now. Everyone died that day of the attack, including me.”

Beomgyu bites onto his lower lip. The little pieces of information he managed to dig from Soobin in the past, as well as his conversation with Haru had given him enough to guess what happened that time. Still, he is not prepared to hear it from Soobin himself.

“Everyone I knew from when I was a human was killed, so it was really a beginning of a new chapter when I turned,” he continues.

Even as his voice stays neutral, Beomgyu can’t help but to hear the pain hidden in his voice. It pains him that Soobin had to go through this, and now has to live with the memories for the rest of his life.

The price one has to pay to be immortal is never worth the pain.

“And then they sent me to another area a few weeks later. As a newborn vampire who were starved,” Soobin starts speaking again, his voice is more tense this time, and Beomgyu knows where this is going.

He takes Soobin’s idle hands, ignoring his questioning hum as he wraps them around his waist. The warmth that was centred on the contact of Soobin’s chest to his back is now spreading everywhere. Through his waist, all over his body, and into his heart.

“What happened that day?” he exhales his question. The sky is too dark by now that Beomgyu can’t catch any view from the ghost town anymore.

It’s just Soobin and him now.

“I killed people, Beomgyu. I don’t know how many of them, but there was so much blood and—“he stops abruptly, breath hitched as he realized that he’s in the verge of freaking out. And it’s from the squeeze of Beomgyu’s hand on top of his, comforting him, just before his fingers slide between Soobin’s from the back of his larger hand. “You asked why I didn’t kill you, and why I helped cover up your crime. That’s because I’m not a good person. Never was. Even though I’m working to protect people now, it still won’t erase what I’ve done in the past.”

“Soobin,” Beomgyu says, loosening his hold so he can turn around and face the other. “That doesn’t make you a bad person.”

Soobin sighs, shaking his head when his gentle eyes found Beomgyu’s own.

“I know, I just realized that I’ve been judging you for the whole time we knew each other. And that’s so unfair of me, knowing that you’ve always been teetering on the edge of losing your mind.”

“And because I was a privileged asshole?” he teases, watching as a smile forms on Soobin’s lips as he snorts.

“Right, that too.”

“Yah,” Beomgyu hisses, about to initiate another bickering session if only it’s not for the hand that’s cupping his cheek. The coldness makes him wince at first, but he appreciates the comfort, leaning into it.

“It’s funny that I tried to kill you the first night we met, and then I got so scared of losing you now that I have an excuse to kill you for real,” Soobin says, pressing a thumb over Beomgyu’s lips when he caught that the younger is about to retaliate.

All the words die down on his tongue at the touch. He’s immobilized, only drawn to the way Soobin looks at him.

He’s used to the irritated look thrown by the elder, or the gentle ones that he always shows for everyone younger than him. But this one, it’s one with so much affections that it almost chokes Beomgyu with the intensity. He feels like he could drown in it with the raw emotion in Soobin’s eyes.

It feels like he is allowed a first taste of being loved.

What are the odds of finding your soul mate and a person who is capable of loving you at the same time, after years of being void for them? It’s so overwhelming that the joy slowly transcends into something darker.

_ Fear. _

“That’s when I realized that I—“

“Soobin?” Beomgyu cuts him off before he could say anything more, beaming up at him to give a perfect picture that everything is fine.

“Hm?”

“Let’s go home.”

===

The rest of their day consists of a trip back to the capital city where they are huddled together at the furthest seat of the bus, fingers interlaced and soft voices filling the little space between their seats. And then once they are back in the midst of bustling streets and busy neon lights past midnight, things go in a blur.

There’s an echo of laughter in his ears and a lingering sting of alcohol in his throat when they retreat into privacy.

It’s the first time Beomgyu ever steps a foot in Soobin’s place. A small apartment decorated with some plants and not many personal belongings. Not like he gets to observe much, as he is occupied by Soobin’s lips on top of his right as they step into the place. His legs are growing weak from the kisses alone, but it’s okay, because he’s sandwiched between Soobin’s warm body and the door behind him. And he feels like he is on top of the world.

Beomgyu is  _ happy _ .

When was the last time he ever felt this kind of elation? If ever.

“You asked if my feelings only came from the soulmate bond, but how about you?” Soobin asks. His gaze is dreamy, as if he is also lost in the blissful daze like Beomgyu is. As he is staring at the vampire’s lips moving when he talk, Beomgyu can barely focus with how badly he wants to kiss him again. “Is it just the soulmate thing, Beomgyu?”

“Why are you still asking?” he scoffs. “You can feel it from the bite.”

“I want you to say it, though. Acknowledge it.”

Soobin is not thrown off by his attempt to be playful, and only now does he feel the weight of the air between them. The feeling so intense it starts suffocating him, demanding for his lungs to work and for his dead heart to beat again. The words are climbing up his throat already, a litany of  _ I love you. I’ve loved you even before this whole soulmate thing happened between us. _

They are not voiced out in the end.

Instead, Beomgyu is grabbing on the front of Soobin’s shirt to pull him close, kissing on his mouth. Then once more. And more. Until Soobin has no other choice but to respond to him.

He smiles against Soobin’s plush lips, whispering.

“You speak too much.”

The confession only falls from his lips a few hours later.

It’s nearing the break of the dawn. The room is dark, save for the remnants of moonlight low in the sky, yet still filter into the room and enable him to see a perfect view of Soobin’s sleeping face. It reminds him of the morning he woke up after the brief night of being feral. Except this time, they have everything.

Except this time, he is ready to give up everything.

“I love you,” he says to Soobin’s sleeping face, head still laid on the pillow next to the other’s.

A bitter smile frames his lips recalling that the two times he is actually confessing his love, he is about to do something that break Soobin’s heart. It’s not Choi Beomgyu if he is not being a disappointment, after all.

Before he removes himself from the comfort of the bed, Beomgyu spends more minutes there, remembering the promise he made back in the farmyard. That time Soobin asked him about his wish. It was a joke, especially since he knew that the wishing well was a fake one. But his wishes were real.

They are still real even now.

Exhaling a shaky breath, he leans in to brush his lips along Soobin’s cheek. His words caressing the soft skin. “I wish we could stay like this forever. I wish I wouldn’t have to go back to the man who wanted me dead. I wish…”

He seals it with a fleeting kiss to Soobin’s unresponsive lips. The last wish is whispered into the kiss, bittersweet, and making his own heart aches when he removes himself from the bed. Without sparing another look to the male sleeping peacefully on the bed, Beomgyu soundlessly walks out from the room.

“I wish love alone is enough to keep me next to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post all 7k in this one chapter, I hope there's not too much to process! Also I would like to hear your thoughts about what's happened so far~ with the soogyu and the taejunkai! and maybe what you like and stil find it hard to like from the characters/the universe? because all the characters had their annoying moments at least once in the fic
> 
> also I really appreciate the people who dropped by my cc/dms because there were some details I put into the story and when someone noticed it, it feels really good aha you know who you are <3 and i'm glad for people who are still interested in the story after like 3 dramas caused by beomgyu's dramatic ass but wooooo we're nearing the end here!!


	19. Chapter 19

It’s not Taehyun’s first fight with Kai.

In the beginning of their friendship, Taehyun was not very nice to the boy. It was not like he was a loner, but Kai was everything he wanted to be instead of his blunt, cynical self. Their classmates liked them for different reasons, but people were always naturally drawn to Kai’s bright and positive personality.

What he didn’t expect was for Kai to be drawn to _him_.

“He’s following you again,” Hyejoo always mentioned it to him when she spotted the guy hanging around them closely even after getting rejected by Taehyun to have lunch together. “Why do you always refuse the cutie?”

Taehyun rolled his eyes at her. “You can date him if you want to hang out with him so much.”

“I’m dating you, though!”

“Only because you had to.”

It was a fact that no one knew, that the two of them were childhood friends who were always together, and ended up dating the moment they were aware of the concept of it. Eventually the casual dating between two kids who knew nothing of it became something serious as their parents were friends, and Hyejoo’s late mother made her promise to marry Kang Taehyun only.

“Well, since I _had_ to date you, shouldn’t you help lessening my pain of seeing the dejected puppy almost every day?” she said, gesturing towards Kai with her chin.

“Only if you stop coming to my boxing lessons.”

“Deal!”

And that was how Kai became a part of their little group. A couple of childhood lovers and a new boy who didn’t even try to hide his obvious crush.

It was perfect. Whenever Kai and Taehyun would have disagreements, Hyejoo would come in the middle. Their friendship got to the point that Taehyun would naturally seek for the boy whenever he stepped into the school building, or any other place later in life.

“You’re my fiancée now, shouldn’t you get a little jealous now that I’m spending more time with Kai?” Taehyun brought it up one day. A light-hearted conversation. They had known each other for too long to be too wary about bringing up a topic.

She laughed initially, but her face turned into a more pensive one when the smile dissipated. “You have a lot of friends, but only keep so few close by. I just want to know that you have someone you can trust if I were to disappear from your life.”

“Now, that sounds like you’re leaving me,” he scoffed.

“You wouldn’t know!”

Right. He wouldn’t have a clue.

He wouldn’t have a clue that Hyejoo wasn’t leaving for a fashion designer internship overseas like she had always wanted to, but leaving the world and Taehyun for good when they got into the accident. It was barely a year after the conversation, and Taehyun still found himself laughing bitterly when he thought of it.

Now, he has failed Hyejoo’s expectation, as he can’t even keep Kai close anymore.

_I just don’t understand why, even when we’re in a relationship, it’s so hard for you to return my feelings._

The words keep echoing in Taehyun’s head. Is he really fooling himself by dating Kai like what Yeonjun said? When he doesn’t even know if he’s in love with the boy or not.

All his life, he had felt love only for his childhood friend, girlfriend, and fiancée. There was no room for anyone else to come into the picture. He doubts that he even knew what kind of feeling _love_ is, replacing it with comfort and commitment instead.

The whole thing with the vampires and Huening Kai set the inside of his mind into disarray, and now he doesn’t even know himself anymore.

One thing for sure is that his chest has been hurting ever since Kai slammed the door behind him when he left, as if he’s closing the door of their friendship slash relationship for good.

Hyejoo left him with a void in his heart, but Kai left venom inside the hollow space.

It feels like he is really losing Kai for good this time.

He’s snapped out of his thoughts when his phone rings from between the pillows on the couch, only to realize too late that it’s not his device when he has it held to his ear. The voice that came from the other line is a stranger’s. A woman.

“Huening Kai, right? It’s about what we discussed the other day.”

Taehyun frowns, wondering if he had wrongly picked up a business call since it’s Kai’s work phone that he left behind. An apology is already on the top of his tongue when the woman just keeps talking.

“I scheduled you a meeting with our head tomorrow night, and I hope that you can be discreet about this since we are not exactly in good terms with the vampires you might know.”

The mention of vampire makes Taehyun freeze on his seat.

It’s not a business call. Kai is still a foot into the vampire’s world despite his promise.

“Thank you for the information,” Taehyun says, hoping that the woman won’t recognize the difference of voices of the recipient. His brain works in full force to think of a bait that will give him more information about the woman from the other line. Or at least a clue about what kind of business they have.

“Good, I will text you the time and place.”

“Hold on, miss. Do I need to bring something for this meeting? Dress formally?” he asks, hitting himself on the head with a fist as he realized how stupid he sounds right now.

Kai won’t be applying for a job there, right?

“Relax, boy. In our family, we accept everyone without much judgment. Unlike that snobbish council,” her tone is derisive when he says that, mocking. “Just come on time, get it?”

But Taehyun didn’t get to answer. The line is disconnected the moment he puts the phone back down on the couch. His eyes staring blankly at his brand new TV, as the pieces of puzzle starts clicking into place.

Accepting everyone.Unlike the council.

Did Kai find another vampire organization behind his back? Taehyun did say that he should quit the council, so that would be a loophole in their agreement. Even as they are dating, Kai is still actively seeking for a way to turn, and Taehyun was in the dark about it. The only time he had been left out of whatever his best friend was doing for the first time since they got closer.

Now it feels like he's lost Huening Kai long before their argument.

He jumps a little when the phone vibrates with an incoming text, showing a date and time of the meeting place.

There is no way he would let this happen.

==

Soobin wakes up with his heart full with warmth and love, expecting to see the familiar face sleeping next to him. It's emptied in an instant like an unplugged drain as he sees the empty side of the bed. It’s more of a gut feeling than assumptions, especially the moment his fingers trail over the sheets, feeling the coldness of it.

It’s only confirmed once he reaches for his phone, unlocking it right to a notepad with one line of text: _I’m sorry_ glaring at him from the screen.

Two words. They shouldn’t hold so much weight. Yet they feel so heavy, because Soobin knows the message behind the two words.

He just doesn’t understand why it happens _now_ , when everything was so perfect last night.

For the last destination of their date, Beomgyu wanted to go home.

Particularly, Soobin’s home.

It was a few hours of bus ride back to the capital city, and when they hopped off the bus, it was already past midnight. But the city was still alive, and Beomgyu was still too excited to be held down from dragging him around.

At some point of the night, they ended up sitting on a park bench with four bottles of soju in between them.

“We can’t even taste the drink, what are we doing with them?” Soobin commented, only to earn him a glare from the other.

“Can’t we act like normal people for once? Jeez,” the vampire rolls his eyes, uncapping the bottle on the side of the bench and cheering as he succeeded. “Okay, let’s play a game!”

“What game?”

“We take turn telling a story, and then the other has to drink for the whole time until the story ends.”

“What kind of game is that—“

“Let’s start from you!”

“Hey!”

Soobin raked his mind for a long story before deciding on a very random one. “Remember the orphanage I frequently visited before? I actually came upon it by accident.”

It was a particularly busy week and Soobin hadn’t slept for a week, which turned out to be _not okay_ despite him being an immortal. In the middle of a patrol, he remembered wandering off from his team and tripped on a stone, only to black out afterwards. When he woke up, he found himself on a bed, with a bunch of children looking at him with half scared and half curious faces.

There were some attacks of fake swords and pillows before he was saved by the head of the orphanage. But it made Soobin feel happy for the first time after he turned, being around the kids.

“So, you found your calling that way,” Beomgyu said, tipping his head back to down another gulp of his drink.

It brought a smile on the vampire’s face, thinking about some of the kids that already grew up – some leaving the facility already to build their lives. “I had always wanted to be a teacher back then, but it wasn’t possible with the lack of education and everything.”

“But you can do that now. You can do anything, since we have forever.”

“Forever,” he exhaled, smiling dreamily before he felt a cold glass of the bottle’s rim pressed to his lips.

“Finish this.”

He made a face, but down the rest of the alcohol anyway as he slid down the bench to rest comfortably, his head tipped back against the back rest while he stared at the side of Beomgyu’s face. Beomgyu already started telling a story about the first time he met Taehyun and Huening Kai.

It was surprising to hear that Beomgyu never had close friends when he was at school, and when the small guy entered the modelling agency he worked at, suddenly everything shifted for him.

(“Isn’t that because Taehyun-ssi tolerated your neverending talks and your classmates wouldn’t?”

“Irrelevant.”)

The alcohol was getting downed and stories were told. Random stories about them that they didn’t bother to share before since they were no more than strangers who had to stick to each other. In just one night, Soobin felt like he had known the other for years already.

He also found out that vampires could get affected from alcohol, which came as a surprise seeing that he never seen Yeonjun showed any difference whenever he drank in the office.

Beomgyu looked dazed after they almost finished their last bottle. There was a gentle flush to his cheeks, and Soobin noticed that he was talking a lot more than Beomgyu did; opposite of their usual dynamic.

“Do you want to go home?” he offered, reaching out to peel Beomgyu’s fingers off the bottle, only for the male to snap his teeth towards his hand as a threatening gesture.

“I want to talk,” he said softly, not meeting the elder’s gaze. “About my dad. My family.”

“Oh?”

“It was not a family, per se. More like an obligation. Some purebloods made a commitment to keep the line of purebloods growing, especially since we are rare, and some of us died without reproducing. That’s why my father had a set amount. And that’s why we are disposable.

Instead of a family, it felt more like a business relationship. They will raise us, so that we can return the favour, because purebloods always grow up rich, and with a lot of connections in either human or vampire world. That’s why it’s easy for my father to kill off the ‘damaged’ ones, like Jeongwoon. And me.”

Soobin shut his eyes tightly as he listened to the other. He wasn’t born in a decent family, but at least he didn’t know his parents enough to know whether they wanted to kill him or not. He mildly remembered telling Beomgyu about his family and father’s privilege, feeling his guts twist from the memory.

“Beomgyu…”

“I’m not telling you this so you can pity me, Soobin,” the other said, making his eyes snap open instantly, meeting Beomgyu’s own and finding them closer than he expected as the younger had scooted closer soundlessly. “I’m telling you so you have a clue on what I’m facing right now. My father must be looking for me right now, and it’s inevitable that I have to face him someday.”

“Are you going to?” Soobin asked, reaching for the other’s hand in an almost desperate gesture.

“They will find me and take me away from you.”

Despite the way Beomgyu’s eyebrows were furrowed with worries and how his lower lip was trapped between his teeth, Soobin can’t help but to smile at the implication of his words.

“Are you saying that you’re mine?”

Beomgyu made a choked noise in his throat. “W-what?”

“You totally said that!” he broke into a laugh when Beomgyu’s face seemed to be more heated. Can alcohol even do that to vampires? It’s amazing, how much he discovered within a single night.

“You’re an idiot,” the younger finally said with a sulky huff, shoving at his shoulder, followed by some words grumbled under his breath. “All of that, and that’s the only thing he’s getting?”

Soobin decided to cut him some slacks, holding his hand tighter when Beomgyu tried to pull on it. He gave it a comforting squeeze.

“I will never let him kill you. You put your life in my hands when you asked me to kill you, it’s just right that I’m protecting it until the time comes.”

The pair of eyes were looking up at him in daze now, reflecting the stars that were hidden behind the clouds in the dark sky. Beomgyu has the prettiest eyes, and Soobin can stare at them forever if he’s allowed too.

“Soobin?” the vampire breaks the moment of daze with the whispered name tumbled past his lips.

“Yes?”

“Shut up for a bit.”

Soobin gives him an incredulous look. “What—“

“Because I want to kiss you so bad right now, and you have to stop me.”

Spoiler: Soobin did _not_ stop him.

There was the kiss, one filled with longing and desperation after years and years of waiting. And then there were more of it, along with lingering touches and heartstruck gazes that make you wonder _just where have you been all my life?_

There were whispered conversations under the blanket. Moments where Soobin just stayed still and watched as Beomgyu’s eyes blink sleepily, just before they widened again the moment he got reminded of something exciting.

It almost made him alive, to actually do something so mundane as falling in love and settling in with someone you loved at the end of the day.

It was perfect.

So he can’t understand why he’s being deprived of it again.

Both times he tried to help Beomgyu, he always ended up waking up alone the next morning. It’s about time that he realizes just what it means.

Maybe it’s finally time to stop.

He ignores the ache stinging his chest as he runs his fingers over the cold sheet next to him, exhaling a sigh. The feeling of kisses lingering on his lips left a bitter aftertaste.

“Is this your answer, Choi Beomgyu?”

==

Kai didn’t know what to expect when he dialled the number.

During his stay in the council, he made acquaintances with some human staff, and apparently not all of them had their loyalty in the council. The day he resigned from the place, a lady whose name he had forgotten handed him a business card, saying something about somewhere else to go if he ever wanted to try his luck again.

His _luck_ apparently meant another opportunity to be turned into a blood-sucking immortal creature.

He was happy in the relationship, as it was something that he had always wanted; for his best friend to look at him as someone worth loving romantically. Still, the greedy part of him wanted more. Even if Taehyun didn’t want him to throw away his human life just to join the vampire, he still yearned for that _forever_ with him.

So, the call happened. Then the break up.

Was it even a breakup? Kai had left the apartment without any closure or intention to have another talk about it anymore. Even the wave of anger he felt at that moment had slowly dissipated, replaced with determination. Now that he doesn’t have to feel guilty anymore about making this arrangement behind his so-called boyfriend.

At least he is not the only one who is betraying their relationship.

“Huening Kai, right?”

His head snapped up at the call of his name. It’s the voice of the lady who had been contacting him.

“That’s me. Is this the right place? Looks like a Chinese food restaurant,” he said, throwing a glance at the outer look at the place he was instructed to visit for their first meet-up.

The lady smirked in amusement, gesturing for him to follow her. “Because it is one.”

From the scheduling alone, Kai comes into a conclusion that this particular group of vampires (individuals? organization? cult?) don’t work in nocturnal time like the council does. The council draws a distinct line between their people and the human society, but these people blend in so well.

So, so well, that he can’t recognize the person who is supposed to be his pureblood ‘sponsor’, even as he’s led into a private room, and seated across of a male.

His hair is tied back in a ponytail, ash silver reflecting the yellowish undertone of the lighting of the room. The only thing that gives it away is the elegant, unhurried manner of the way he moves.

The concept of time only applies to humans, not a vampire who has lived for more than a century.

“Why this restaurant? You can’t even taste the food,” he points out bluntly.

The male, who he assumed as Haru, stares at him pensively for a few seconds. There is an air of intimidation floating in the air that vanishes the moment he breaks into laughter.

“I like you already.”

The meeting goes on too casually, to the point that Kai forgot what he’s initially here for. The vampire ordered a bunch of food for him, even eats some as well to keep up the normalcy. If this was an interview to see if he were deemed worthy to be a vampire, it sure didn’t feel like it.

Haru arches a brow the moment he mentions it. “I thought you’re aware that we don’t move the same way the council does. Who are the purebloods to decide who is worthy and unworthy to turn?”

“Then what’s the point of this interview?”

“Who said that this was an interview? Lia, are you trying to scare our new recruit again?” Haru throws a glance to the girl, who rolls her eyes at the statement. Kai gives them a curious look when the other meets his eyes again.

“The council is a new system invented, but long before that, the vampires are like us. We move in separate groups as families, free from any rules or obligations to be allowed to live. No one is acting as the higher ups.”

Kai frowns. “I thought you’re the head.”

“They just think I’m one, but we can be friends if you want.”

He looks down at the fortune cookie he just picks up from a plate. A dessert. The sound of it being cracked fills the silence of the room that’s too vast for the three of them. _‘You will gather positive people around you if you have positive energy’_ is written on the paper from inside the cookie.

It makes him snort, seeing how he seems to be constantly hanging out with vampires these days.

“You know my reason for wanting to turn. Are you not going to judge me?” he asks, bringing his gaze back to the male across of him.

“Judge you for what, wanting to spend more time with your vampire boyfriend?”

“More like needing more time to make the said boyfriend in love with me,” he mumbles bitterly to himself, regretting it the moment he caught Haru’s knowing smile.

Screw vampires and their inhumane senses.

“I don’t think it’s something bad, honestly. Just like you, I wanted to spend forever with my lover. So I made him turn.”

Kai arches a brow at that. “And how well did that go?”

“He died,” the vampire says little too amicably, despite saying something that might have ripped open an old wound. “Some things just didn’t work out, especially in the old times.”

“Seems like you kept trying even when it didn’t work out.”

“With every failed case, there are five more successful ones. Besides, shouldn’t you ask yourself a same question?”

Kai bites down onto his lip, sighing as he tilts his head back, eyes gazing up at the ceiling. “I guess instead of not wanting to give up, it’s more of being unable to.”

“How so?”

“I’ve spent half my life chasing after him, I wouldn’t know what to do otherwise.”

It’s pathetic, he can feel it from the long stare directed to him by the two vampires. Even the lady vampire has gained some interest in their conversation after being nonchalant to it since the beginning.

“Well, if you gained forever into your life, at least you can do the things you failed to do when you're busy revolving around that person.”

The idea is tempting, but almost impossible to carry out. Not when the center of his world is also the one who’s trying to make sure that he won’t have that forever granted to his years. Even when they have stopped this fake dating game, Taehyun still wouldn't leave him alone.

He’d known Taehyun for too long that he would recognize the guy anywhere, even in his poorly executed disguise.

“Are you here to return my phone?” he stops by his table, bending down just enough to whisper into the back of his ear.

Taehyun jolts away instantly, the cap falls off his head, exposing his fading red hair. “How did you know?” he throws a look in a mix of horror and amazement to the human.

“Isn’t that obvious? I’d notice you anywhere, Taehyun.”

That piece of information doesn’t seem to amuse the redhead, but he accepts his defeat. He seems to be wary around Kai, too, which is not something he is used to.

All his life, their friendship relies on Kai clinging onto the latter, or following him around while begging for his attention. This is the first time Taehyun ever shows enough interest to tail him in secret.

Unfortunately, it’s for something that Kai doesn’t want him to be involved in.

They end up going for a walk, stopping only in the middle of the bridge, with busy cars zooming behind them. The wind is getting colder, a sign of another summer passing by. None of them is fazed by it, focusing on the water below, as if it’s the most interesting object.

“So, the meeting time was moved,” Taehyun starts talking.

“Yeah, it became earlier,” Kai says. “You had access to my working phone, so you must have seen the message.”

“I received the call.”

“That sounds intrusive, even for boyfriends.”

The word feels bitter on his tongue as Kai says it, even though it used to make him feel giddy barely a week ago. Just the thought of calling Taehyun his boyfriend helps him through his busiest days. But that’s when he knew that it was one-sided.

“I’m sorry,” Taehyun says, finally looking at him now, as Kai can feel his gaze boring into the side of his face. “You must understand why I don’t want you to do this.”

“ _I_ must understand? Have you ever thought of why I wanted to do this in the first place?”

“You’re doing this for me. Please stop, Kai-ya.”

“Isn’t this more for me?” Kai takes a deep breath, which he exhales as a shaky laugh. He finally turns his gaze to look at the other male, fingers tightening on the metal bar of the bridge. “Didn’t I tell you long ago? That no matter how long it takes, I’m going to make you fall for me? At this rate, I would need forever for that.”

“You are being stupid.”

“Yeah? Let me stay this way then.”

That makes Taehyun snap. Irritation drawn all over his face, that Kai feels like he should run away or apologize. After all, Taehyun is a vampire, and he is stronger now even without all the working out he liked to do.

He just didn’t think that words would hurt more than the possibility of Taehyun punching the life out of him.

“And what if I tell you now, that no matter how long you try, I will never fall for you?”

You’d think Kai would have gotten used to heartbreak after experiencing so many rejections, that there won’t be any more space left on his heart for a crack. Except, this one doesn’t inflict a crack in addition to the spiderwebs all over his heart.

It’s a tear. A deep, open gash. Painful and weeping.

That his initial response is to laugh, doubling over to clutch his abdomen. Even the tear that he wipes off a corner of his eye is one that’s caused by too much laughing. He almost breaks into another laugh when he caught Taehyun’s horrified look.

Is he sickened? Is he scared of the person Kai has become?

He doesn’t really want to find out.

“Then, don’t you think I deserve that forever to move on from you?” he says. His smile not quite reaching his eyes this time.

There is no farewell, nothing like an ending in that conversation, yet it feels like one when Kai turns around. He doesn’t spare the vampire another look, only waving a hand in dismissal as he walks towards the other way.

If only it’s that easy to let go of his one-sided love for Kang Taehyun, he wouldn’t have gone through so much heartache.

After all, there is only so much a human can take before they break.

That’s why he needs to become something else.

**==**

“There’s nothing that connects that case with a vampire attack, so why is it any of our business again?”

The staff has his head bowed. Lips parted as if to present his analysis, but he ends up shrinking under Yeonjun’s stare.

“It’s just that… the person…”

“The person happens to be that ex-newborn’s manager? Well, I’m sure you’re aware how a murder victim by a newborn would look like, right?” Yeonjun sighs, throwing the case file onto the table.

It’s opened on the page where the crime scene photos are displayed, showing them a dead body whose neck unmarred by a feral vampire’s bite. A dead body that Yeonjun is familiar with, considering that he’s the one who left the guy that way.

But no one else needs to know.

“I’m sorry,” the guy squeaks, gathering the papers into his hands and bowing so deeply before he hurries off for the door.

“You can come back once you gathered sufficient evidence,” he says into a blank air, as the human officer is already scurrying out of the room in a record of time.

He honestly feels bad for the guy, since he’s actually onto something. His only mistake is bringing the case to Yeonjun, who would gladly investigate the case with the human authorities, if only it wasn’t him who’s behind this death.

It’s such a shame, seeing that officers are not usually keen on investigating cases that would involve too much detail. These people he trained usually deal with the feral vampires, the ones they could just wrestle to the ground or stake right in the heart. All muscles with no thinking.

Only Yeonjun would assign this kind of time-consuming case to the officers under his team, and that explains why that officer would come report to him about his suspicion. And that’s one of the reasons why he can’t leave this place so easily.

“What would this place become without my big brain?” he smiles smugly.

He can’t leave, at least not before he can find someone to replace his role. Even then, he would have to risk his life being chased down by Myungjoo and his lackeys.

It’s just that after so many years of working in the council, everything feels so mundane.

It didn’t feel much like a punishment at first, building up the system and fixing what’s wrong with the vampires that are living among humans like them. Now that everything has been established, his job should’ve been done already. There’s no reason Myungjoo could punish him after centuries passed.

The cases are the same every other day – occasional unconsented feeding, unpermitted turning, feral newborns, bloodbag thievery.

It just started being a little fun when Beomgyu and his friends came into the picture, no matter how much Yeonjun claims them to be such a bother.

Just as the thought comes to mind, he hears a sound of elevator door dings open, followed by some languid footsteps towards the office a few doors away from his own, unlocked door, and the sound of it falling shut. He perks up at once, recognizing the sound from any other day he keeps his ear on whether his personal self-appointed assistant is back in the office for the day.

Naturally, he finds his way out of his office, casually waltzing towards the said office. All that effort, only to be returned by an unwelcoming, disgruntled look from a certain purple haired vampire.

“You’re back.”

“I wish I hadn’t left,” Soobin says with a sigh, eyeing the stack of files on top of his desk. “I took an official leave, the least you could do for me is to make someone else finish these.”

“In my defense, you didn’t specify the length, so I just put my faith on you.”

There’s no more response from the guy as he’s already flipping through the files, acting like he cares about work when his eyes are not focused on the printed text.

Yeonjun keeps his gaze at the younger as he walks towards the desk, leaning his hips against the edge of it. “No luck, huh?”

“Hm?” the guy blinks a few times, obviously snapping out of it just now, and stares up at him in confusion.

“I didn’t think you’d come back before finding him.”

The confused look slowly fades away from his face, replaced by a bitter smile that looks foreign on Soobin’s lips.

They have known each other for too many years. Ever since the hellish period of Soobin’snewborn days, to the time he came back to Yeonjun’s life after disappearing for a while. While Yeonjun thinks that he’s known all there is to know about the vampire, it appears that there are some untouched territories that they don’t know about each other.

Just like how this is the first time he sees Soobin look so heartbroken, to the point that he’s cold about it.

“I went to find him,” he starts, eyes cast down to the paper he held in his hand. “But I ended up losing him."

When Yeonjun mused about how Beomgyu brought interesting people and stories for him to hear, he wasn’t wrong at all.

It took a while for Soobin to catch him up on how his search was going, how he ended up finding Beomgyu and putting his life as a gamble only to find out that he was the ‘human’ mate the pureblood had been searching for. And just as the story started sounding like one with a happy ending, it took a turn for the worse again.

Young people really can’t live without drama.

“So you’re not planning to search for him anymore,” he asks in the end now that the office has fallen into a prolonged silence that felt so depressing with the solemn air radiating from the other.

“I can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved,” Soobin says with a sigh.

Right. Shouldn’t have asked that question.

They both jump at the sound of phone vibrating on top of the desk. Soobin frowns at the unsaved number displayed on the screen, contemplating for a bit before picking up the call. The frown never leaves his face.

Yeonjun just sits there on his desk, watching as different kinds of expressions flit over Soobin’s face. First, it’s a surprise (“Yes, it’s me. But I think I owe you an apology—“), which then replaced by confusion (“What do you mean? I convinced him to what?”), and then there’s a moment of silence as the person on the other side of the call keeps on speaking. The call ends with a grim expression on Soobin’s face.

“Myungjoo-ssi, can I ask for something else as a reward?” Yeonjun arches a brow at the mention of the name. This can’t be a good sign, and it really is not, judging from the pained look in Soobin’s face after he voiced out his request.

The call is ended not long after that, but Soobin stays on his seat for a little longer. His phone clutched on his hand and his head tipped back to rest on the back of his chair.

“You’re an idiot, are you aware of that?” Yeonjun finally breaks the agonizing silence, gathering the younger’s attention to him.

Soobin smiles. One that looks too sad on his pretty pair of lips. “What am I supposed to do, hyung? He just went back to his father, knowing full well that he’s going to be executed.”

“So you just offered to do it in his place? What kind of bullshit.”

“If he wanted to die so much, might as well die in the hands of the soulmate he has worked so hard to find, right?” Soobin says, punctuated by a short, sarcastic laughter. “Maybe that’s what he needed me for in the first place. I disappointed him.”

When Soobin leaves the office, Yeonjun stays a little longer sitting on the desk, staring at the closed door before him before exhaling a sigh. There’s no way he would be okay after this. Not the Soobin who begged him to be stopped the first time he bit a human and had a relapse from the guilt of killing a newborn for the first time.

Still, he can’t deny the slight shiver he felt from the vampire for the first time in decades, that moment Soobin spoke out his request to the phone.

 _“Please let me be the one who kills Choi Beomgyu_.”

Because he looked like he really meant it for a split second there, and Yeonjun fears _for_ him.

When he walks back to his own office, he almost turns back around seeing a familiar face sitting on the sofa, as if he belongs there despite his claim of not wanting anything to do with the fellow vampires.

As Yeonjun has learned from what’s been happening these past few weeks, there is nothing good coming whenever one of these kids turn up at his place.

Especially not Kang Taehyun.

Still, he makes his way into the office, putting on his lazy, nonchalant demeanour. It comes to the point that the redhead has to be the one who makes a move, marching towards his desk and lays his hands on top of it, demanding for the pureblood’s full attention.

But it’s the despair in Taehyun’s eyes that caught Yeonjun’s attention. That’s when he knows that he can’t ever say no to this newborn.

“I need your help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's only one more actual chapter left of this fic!!!! i can't believe you've gone through 89k words of these...


	20. Chapter 20

The house feels as cold as the last time Beomgyu stepped a foot in there.

Nothing good ever comes from going home to this place. The place where he grew up showered by snowflakes instead of warmth. Pureblood vampires are not raised to be weak in character, they reasoned, because these vampires should be sick enough to do cold-blooded vampire behaviours whenever needed.

For example, killing your own son.

Beomgyu wasn’t sure what he expected when he let his legs carry him back to this place, when he could have stayed in Soobin’s arms. After all, he had gotten the happy ending he had always wanted.

He found his soulmate, he was content for once, yet the danger of having your own father seeking for him still loomed upon him. Not to mention that the said parent also hired his boyfriend to track him down. Self-proclaimed boyfriend, at least, seeing how he forgot to ask Soobin out before leaving. As if the vampire would still want him after this.

“Father,” he said the moment he entered his father’s office.

The house is always so empty, with all the kids being scattered around the globe and a mother who only became a mother to fulfil her pureblood responsibility. Meanwhile, his father is always cooped up in his office, only keeping a bodyguard with him while sending the rest of his minions somewhere else until he needs them.

Even the infamous stoic Choi Myungjoo can’t hide that flash of surprise when he saw Beomgyu entering the room so casually. Without his hands bound or any kind of restraint around his frame.

“You’re back,” he says, back to his impassive demeanour.

“Choi Soobin dropped me off here.”

There’s a smirk plastered across Myungjoo’s face, something that should’ve been enough of a warning. With a wave of hand, the man sends his bodyguard across the room, and Beomgyu has his breath knocked out of him as he gets his face shoved into the floor.

There is a knee pressing onto his back, while his arms are wrestled painfully to lock behind him. A rush of adrenaline shoots through him as he growls and struggles to break free, to no avail. The grip is not budging even an inch.

Only once he stops trying to escape that his father decide to walk to him, looking down at him like what he’s always been doing. Only this time, it’s quite literally.

“You’re not a feral.”

His eyes are burning in silver as he glares at the man. “No shit. Why would I show up here if I were one?”

“You were one when you ran away.”

“Halfway through, then I found my soul mate.”

“Right at the right timing?” he arches a brow. “How convenient for you.”

“You’re the one who always told me that a blood mate shows up when you need them the most,  _ daddy _ ,” he sneers.

He should probably cut back on his smugness, because his father really has no patience left when dealing with him. That cheeky act right there earns him a sole of boot to his cheek, pressing his head back down onto the carpeted floor.

“You’re still a murderer, Choi Beomgyu. How can you still act like you have some kind of privilege here? There are only so many times I can cover for your mess.”

“And when you can’t anymore, then what?” he challenges, despite his position not being one suitable for talking back. His eyes are staring blankly at the wall ahead of him. The sharp heel of the expensive shoe still is digging into his cheek. “Are you going to kill me? Who gave you the right to decide who deserves to die and not? Who are you to decide that too much is too much before you eliminate a child?”

This is the first time he ever stands up to his parents, yet he hates himself for sounding like Haru and his little cult.

He doesn’t need to look at Myungjoo’s face to feel the burning anger wafting towards him. If looks could kill, he would be desecrated right there.

Instead, the weight of the leather shoe left his face, followed by light footsteps to another direction. “Get him away. I’ll decide what to do with this insolent brat later.”

The underlying meaning: he will think of the most efficient way to kill Beomgyu without leaving a trace or evidence that it’s his doing.

After all, randomly killing one’s own children doesn’t sit well with the value of the council’s pure, pristine image. With Myungjoo being the representative of their little high vampire society, he can’t be too reckless. Despite the fact that most vampires he already knows that there’s nothing innocent going on in pureblood households.

The next thing he knows, Beomgyu is thrown inside solitary confinement again. His cheek aches, along with his whole body when he realizes that it’s that room with too much silver again.

It makes him feel claustrophobic, being trapped like this. So he does what he does best: running away from reality.

He shuts his eyes.

==

Someone died, and life goes on for the people around them.

When Kai stops by at the company, there is not much sign that it was a murder crime scene just a few nights ago. People are coming back to work, unbothered by some non-uniformed police officers roaming around the floor where the murder took place.

They probably have a replacement for the guy already, seeing how Taehyun’s schedule is always booked. It’s depressing, to think that you can be easily replaced by someone else in life. It feels even worse for Kai because he knows that the vampires had something to do with this, which means that the man’s family will never have a proper closure about this death.

“Kai-ssi!” The sound of his name being called makes him halt his steps. “Didn’t think I’d see you around this early in the day.”

She’s a staff from the acting department who worked with him in a project a while back, and since then, has been trying to recruit him. She looks way too happy. Unfazed by the death like all the other staff.

It’s almost like only Kai is aware of it.

“Yejin-ssi,” he acknowledges, putting on his cheerful smile back on his face, since this is the face everyone’s familiar with. Not the brooding, heartbroken Huening Kai. “The photoshoot went so well, so we got released earlier. Isn’t it a great day?”

“It will be greater if you consider joining us for real,” she says, faking a heavy sigh. “I thought you’d eventually come to our side since we have Taehyun.”

He has to swallow a bitter smile at that. “Right.”

They engage in small talks for a bit more before Kai is released, only to encounter a few more people along the way before he’s accomplished his mission to drop by the production room. He only came to this building to review the final draft of his photobook, but the most difficult part of the work is to get to the work itself.

It comes with being loved. As a people person, Kai always went out on his way to talk with these people and make sure that he leaves a good impression on them. People always say that it’s his natural charm that makes people flock to him, when it requires more efforts than just charms.

Ironically, the only person he wanted ends up being the only one who’s not looking his way.

What kind of high school cliché.

His phone buzzes with an incoming text when he’s flipping through the physical drafts, faking interest for his own faces printed on these papers. There are more text alerts coming right after, until he can’t ignore them anymore, frowning when the name pops up on his screen.

This is unexpected.

So, so unexpected that he can’t think of the possibility of turning down the request to meet up with the vampire. Even though it should’ve alarmed him; the idea of being alone with a bloodthirsty creature in a secluded place like this parking lot.

“Hey, little human,” the familiar blonde greets him the moment he shows up at the designated spot in the basement. He has his signature cocky smile plastered over his plush lips, and he is leaning against a car, clad in his usual black attire for work. Working hour hasn’t even started for him.

“Yeonjun hyung,” he acknowledges with a small smile. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Likewise. I didn’t think you’d actually agree to meet, seeing to how you and Taehyun are supposed to be in hiding.”

“Not particularly.”

He barely resists the urge to scoff at the reminder of the ‘plan’. It lasted for a very short time because the vampires just can’t leave them alone. Whether it is the one from the council or Haru’s place. They are just the same in that sense.

Knowing the nature of their kind, too, Kai really should’ve thought twice before agreeing to meet Yeonjun.

He didn’t have the right to be surprised when he’s being shoved against the said car. Pain flares throughout his back as the alarm goes out from the force. The impact appears to be that hard, but he can still register the fingers wrapped around his neck, threatening to crush his windpipe.

“W-why?” he chokes out, gasping for breath.

Various scenarios run through his head at this point. Is this because he is aware that Yeonjun is the murderer? Or is it because his connection with Haru has been exposed? The vampire did warn him about their beef with the council.

If that’s what gets him killed…

“I’m sorry, Kai. I like you, but this is for your own good,” Yeonjun says, sighing as if he is doing this not based on his free will. The worst part is that he looks like he meant it, and Kai really,  _ really  _ does not want to die for his own good.

He opens his mouth to plead, to persuade the vampire to change his mind. After all, they spent enough time together to be considered acquaintances already, or even friends. But his charm is not working too well here either, because Yeonjun interrupts him before any word could roll off his tongue.

The interruption comes in a pair of sharp fangs sinking into his skin. Memories of the nightmare in Taehyun’s apartment came back instantly. The surprise, disbelief, and fear of seeing what his best friend had become.

This time, it’s the surprise that Choi Yeonjun is the one doing it.

The officer who’s supposedly catching vampires who feed on unwilling humans, is now pinning him against the car and feeding from him. The fear only comes a little later, at the first hint of bliss rushing into his system from the bite.

The euphoria.

His brain is clouded with the hazy smoke of bliss, disarming him and filling his brain with constant chants that he  _ has to  _ give everything the vampire asks from him, including his life. That’s when he knows he’s thoroughly fucked.

Though that’s the least of his concern.

Because it’s worse than that.

Not that he would have any recollection of it.

In the daze from the feeding, he mildly registers being slumped on the cold ground of the parking lot. Fingers on his chin, tipping his head up to gaze up into the shimmering golden eyes. They look so pretty. He would give his life away for Choi Yeonjun. Anything he wants.

“You will forget everything about Kang Taehyun and the vampires. You have never met us, and vampires do not exist.”

The voice lulls him like a siren’s, and for a split moment, it makes sense. He does not know any Kang Taehyun or vampires. This person’s word is the absolute, and he has to do whatever said to him like it’s the law.

Except, something is trying to fight off the bliss. It’s clawing from inside his chest. Heartbeat pounding madly against his rib cages, agonizingly, as he recognized the name.

_ Kang Taehyun. _

There’s no way he will let the memories be taken away from him. All those little fights and shared laughters. That night Taehyun opened up to him for the first time. The first time they kissed. The first time Taehyun called him his best friend. The reason he gets up in the morning and the person who keeps him going.

He can’t let go of them, but the memories are crumbling into dust, becoming less palpable the more he resists. They are fading away, slipping through his fingers no matter how much he is trying to hold onto them.

The sleepless nights they shared. His rejected confessions. Taehyun who clings onto his arm as a habit.

The first time they met in that classroom, where Taehyun glared at him with dislike.

“No… no, I don’t want to forget,” he says, eyes still staring blankly as the memories flash before them, just before they are burned down. “Not him.  _ Please _ .”

The sleepy smile Taehyun gave him, the first morning they woke up in each other’s arms.

_ Tae... _

The name is stuck in his mouth, then dissolved like a cotton in cold water.

Kai feels his head throbs as he regains his senses, registering the coldness of the ground and the vast parking lot that seems to be spinning. He sits still for a few more seconds, willing the pain to go away before he can finally look around again, almost had a whiplash from seeing a tall male towering by his side.

“Are you okay?” the blond asks.

“Ah, yes. My head hurts like hell, but it should be fine,” he grunts when he’s helped back to his feet. A hand flies up to cup his neck, rubbing the skin where it aches. For some reasons, everything hurts and it’s hard to breathe. Perhaps it’s time for a medical check-up.

“You should be careful roaming around this place alone,” the stranger says again, handing him his phone, which he accepts hesitantly. He must have dropped it when he passed out for some unknown reasons. “Wasn’t there a murder just the other day?”

He grimaces at the recollection, shuddering. “Right. I don’t even know why I’m here. Thank you for helping me!” he says cheerily, dipping his head into a bow before he goes for the elevator leading to the main building.

That’s when he realizes that he’s never seen the blond male prior to this meeting. He prides himself in knowing more than half the artists and models in this company. There’s no way he would forget such a pretty face, either.

“Wait, what’s your name?” he turns around to face the other male again, only to talk to the blank air of the dimly lit parking lot. The guy has disappeared already. “Oh well, I’ll see him around,” he decided, shrugging as he hurried off to the elevator that will bring him into safety of having more people around him.

This is sure a strange day for Huening Kai.

==

The next time Beomgyu opens his eyes, someone else is inside the room. He hadn’t realized that he fell asleep, which is surprising, considering the whole interior of the room is making him sick and uncomfortable to the bones.

It doesn’t affect the owner of the pair of purple eyes staring down at him.

Cold, emotionless.

So different from the way they look in that bedroom lit up by moonlight, staring into his own eyes with soft, honey-glazed shimmer. The memory feels like something from ages ago and not just the night before.

“Soobin,” he breathes out the name. His chest clenches at that. An usual response to hearing that name even from his own lips. “Why are you here?”

“I’m here for you,” he confirms.

He should’ve seen it coming, judging from the cold, murderous look in Soobin’s eyes and the voice void of warmth. He should’ve known that there is no way  _ his  _ Soobin would look at him like this.

If he had realized it, he would’ve seen the silver stake that comes down towards him. It slices across his front, barely missed digging into his chest as he shoots up from his position. Even the light graze from the tip alone leaves a burning sensation on his skin. But it’s nothing compared to the piercing pain on his back as he leaps out of the stake’s way, only to bump against the sharp silver thorns installed to the metal door.

“Fuck,” he curses under his breath. “That hurt.” He stumbles away from the dangerous spot, a hand presses to his chest to minimize the pain as he backs away the moment Soobin gets up, eyes wide and wary. 

“I told you I’m here for you. Why are you so surprised?” the elder scoffs, cleaning the droplet of blood on the tip of his stake to the sleeve of his work uniform, as if even the presence of Beomgyu’s blood alone is a stain to his beloved weapon.

Every step taken towards him seems to echo in the tiny room they are trapped in, and there is not much space to avoid the vampire.

“You’re really here to kill me now,” Beomgyu says, can’t help the smirk that tugs his lips despite how his face is still contorted with pain.

He has a recollection of similar conversation taking place between them before, and he meant it back then too. It’s just funny, that he can feel the fear closing in only now. Especially when he entered this house aware of the possibility of his father’s intention to get rid of him.

It’s not the first time that Soobin wanted to kill him either. But it hurts more, knowing that Soobin is being used for his dad’s sick plan.

“You asked for it, Beomgyu,” and he looks more hurt than angry, like Beomgyu has pushed him again and again, to the point that he’s had enough. Too much is too much. Just like his father.

“Didn’t know that you’d only grant it if my dad asked you to.”

“I gave you two chances. I begged for your love,” Soobin’s voice is low at the end, nearly broken, just enough for the two of them to hear.

Beomgyu could’ve missed it, especially with how he’s feeling lightheaded from the pain. He almost didn’t see the next quick movement of Soobin launching himself towards him, not getting enough time to move away. He blocked the attack with his forearm. The sharp blade of the stake just inches away from plunging into his chest.

“So you finally deduced that I’m not worth it anymore?” he asks through gritted teeth. His whole body shaking just from holding back the force that Soobin is putting against him.

He is a pureblood. He should be stronger than him.

It’s seen from how he sends the guy across the room with just a single push, ready to charge again and slam the taller male against the silver door to weaken him some more. That’s when his movement falters.

Why is he fighting Soobin? This was what he wanted, right? If he had to die, might as well die in the hand of someone he loves.

It seems to take Soobin by surprise when he suddenly stops, that their bodies collided, and Beomgyu is crashing against the wall with enough force to break his bones. His sights blurred, filled with tears that came from both the impact and the stinging pain in his chest.

Now it’s Soobin’s turn to look at him with eyes full of surprise, as Beomgyu stays slumped against the wall instead of fighting back, not even as the silver stake is back in sight.

He is hesitating again.

“What are you waiting for?” he reaches out for Soobin’s hand that is holding the stake, bringing it up towards his chest, where his unbeating heart is resting. “Is it not fun anymore when you’re not playing chase?”

There’s a flash of anger crossing Soobin’s eyes again following the realization, and his muscles tensed under Beomgyu’s fingers. “You’re so sick for this, Choi Beomgyu. I hope you know that I’ve never hated someone as much as I hate you right now.”

Beomgyu smiles lazily. “I’m sorry that you have to clean up after me again.”

His eyes are midway into falling shut when Soobin withdraws his hand, only to thrust it forward again in full force. His silver blade glinting under the lighting of the room. He can’t look at Soobin.

The stab would hurt like hell, but it hurts more to look at Soobin and see the expression on his face. It hurts when the person you love actually means it when they say that they want to kill you.

Nothing in this world could prepare you for that.

==

In his years of being an officer in the council, Soobin has seen countless occasions of a silver dagger slicing into a vampire’s skin, even on his own skin. Yet this time, Soobin feels the frozen walls he had built around him crumble into pieces, falling down along with the remnants of his shattered heart.

Beomgyu’s eyelashes flutter against his cheeks as his eyes fall shut, his body slid down onto the floor.

He probably won’t ever forget the small agonized cry falling off the vampire’s pair of pretty lips right then. Something that might haunt his dreams for the following years, along with the sight before him; the way an intruding stain of crimson spreads across the front of Beomgyu’s torn, white shirt.

“I can’t… I can’t be here,” he gasps out, his hands trembling as he lets go of the blood-stained blade. It clatters down onto the floor next to Beomgyu.

The male always looks breathtaking with silver and crimson, but not this time. Not like  _ this _ .

The numbness follows him as Soobin stumbles out of the solitary confinement room into an empty corridor. The bodyguard standing outside the door pays him no mind as he doubles over, eyes wide as he stares at his trembling, bloody hands. He wipes them onto the pants of his uniform, which is a wrong move as he is just staining the white trousers. But everything makes sense in his chaotic state of a mind.

“What the hell did I do?” he mumbles to himself, folding himself as he falls into a squat.

He remembers the look in Beomgyu’s eyes. The split second of change from the mocking glare in his eyes into something that almost made Soobin throw his blade away.

The last expression Soobin sees in Beomgyu’s eyes before the dagger struck: he wants to live.

Beomgyu wanted to live. He didn’t come back to his father’s arms to die. A single look into those eyes and Soobin  _ knows _ that he had a hidden motive, which is now ruined by Soobin meddling into this family business.

Beomgyu had a plan, and Soobin just—

“Well done, officer.”

It takes Soobin a few more seconds to gather himself before he could get up from the position. His hands have stopped shaking, flexing on his sides as he stands right before the man with the highest position in the council.

The idea would intimidate him any other day, but today he just feels waves of loathe for the man. Even though he has no right to blame someone else for his own bad decision.

“You were watching us,” he guesses, remembering the presence of a CCTV camera in the room.

“Yes. You’re a good example of someone worthy of a council title, Choi Soobin-ssi. I will have you promoted anyway.”

Soobin clears his throat. Promotion is the last thing he has in mind at this point, he doesn’t even mind being fired. Why would he willingly work under someone like this?

“Don’t you think you should pay your last respect to your kid?” he puts on his best polite smile, though he still can’t mask the iciness dripping from his voice. “Considering you didn’t get to do that with your last son, who also died in my hands. Pardon me, but maybe you need some time reflecting on where you were wrong in raising your son this time.”

A flash of anger forms in golden flakes that flare upon the pureblood’s eyes, much like how Yeonjun is when he is consumed by anger. It’s just that this man is better at controlling it, seeing that it dies down almost as soon as it appears, replaced by his usual stoic, tacit demeanour.

“Watch your mouth, officer,” Myungjoo says calmly. “You’re dismissed.”

“I also left a letter from Haru in the room. Maybe you’d have some answers on why your son turns on you.”

With that piece of information being said, Soobin turns around to go. The corridor feels suffocating with only a thick wall separating them and the bloody scene he just walked out from. The only satisfaction derived from this whole thing is the creak of metal doors being open again. At least his words went into the pureblood’s thick skull.

==

Performing compulsion always leaves a bitter aftertaste.

There is a reason it is made forbidden, after all. It is the act of stripping someone off their own free will, turning them into a puppet that will do anything for you. While it is a powerful weapon, it’s also deadly for the vampires performing it. Taking a lot of energy and life essence that make them grow weak for a period afterwards. Making them prone to be attacked if it were to be used in a battle.

It is also something that vampires in early days used to force humans into being their personal blood bags – something that they would call blood slavery these days. It’s the most taboo case for them, even worse than murder.

Performing compulsion on its own would have landed Yeonjun a near life-sentence punishment if he were caught by the council. Yet for some reasons, he has done it twice already for Taehyun in the span of a few days.

The said vampire watched the whole thing unfold. As Yeonjun comes back inside the car, he appears to be trying so hard in hiding the fact that he’s been crying.

The shortness of breaths and sniffles gave it away, in the end. Taehyun will eventually learn that vampires don’t rely on oxygen anymore to stay alive, so he’d be able to conceal his crying noises better later on. Today is not the day.

“Have you finally realized that it was a bad decision?” 

There is no reply for what feels like forever too long, and then Taehyun suddenly takes a deep breath and lets his hands fall off his face. He heaves himself onto the passenger seat with an impassive expression on his face. No trace of crying on his face aside from the apparent hint of teardrops clinging to his eyelashes.

“It was lots and lots of years of friendship. You’d cry too.”

“Added with the fact that he’s also your boyfriend?”

“Whom I apparently faked my feelings to date,” he says bitterly, pressing his lips to a thin line as a memory seems to come to him. One that he quickly shakes away. “It’s whatever now. It’s over.”

It’s over.

Taehyun had decided this ending that moment he came into Yeonjun’s office with a request that clumsily sputtered out of his mouth the second he saw the vampire.

“Please make Kai forget that vampires exist. That  _ I _ exist.”

It was a drastic measure. Something that Yeonjun didn’t expect to hear from Taehyun as a request when he entered the room. As if the idea relayed by that request was not horrible enough, the determination in the pair of round eyes staring at him was a strong one. He knew right away that there was no changing Taehyun’s mind as he already set his mind about it.

“Aren’t you being too cruel, Kang Taehyun?” Yeonjun breaks into a smirk, incredulous yet also amazed. “You keep saying that we are cruel creatures, yet you’re worse. This is way more cruel than sucking his blood, oh wait, you did that too.”

Anger flared in Taehyun’s visage as he stormed towards Yeonjun, who tried his hardest to not be intimidated by the power enclosed within the smaller male.

Instead of fury, however, there was only despair once Taehyun got close enough. “You know that there’s no other way to make him change his mind. He already had a connection with another vampire organization, and I can’t lose him like this… Not because of what I dragged him into.”

“You’re going to lose him anyway, you know that, right?” Yeonjun said after a moment of silence of watching hopelessness in Taehyun’s eyes.

“I know…but at least he’d be alive, and happier without me.”

The usually snarky and confident Kang Taehyun had been reduced into this pathetic state just because someone was too in love with him to follow his path into immortality. He didn’t even move away when Yeonjun reached out to grab his chin, making him look up to face the pureblood.

“Are you sure you want to—“

“Yes.”

Yeonjun scoffed. “You sure you can pay me back in return? This is something big to ask. Who do you think you are that you deserve to demand this kind of thing from me?”

That made Taehyun’s lips pressed shut in silence. He appeared to shrink under the intimidation of Yeonjun’s sharp eyes staring him down, challenging him. Yeonjun swore he even felt the slight shiver from the other’s body, just from the little contact he had with his hand on Taehyun’s chin.

It was fun watching him lose certainty on his plan in that second, until Taehyun’s eyes hardened again, and Yeonjun was the one taken aback by surprise.

“I will do anything for you if you can help me with this. For as long as I live, I will pay you back.”

No trace of fear left in Taehyun’s face, only determination and a trace of despair. Making it look like he would actually give up anything to pay.

The unconditional love. The willingness to even ruin his own life for someone else.

For a split moment, Yeonjun was brought back into that night at the palace, where he was facing that woman with a burning determination to avenge her lover. It was funny, that Taehyun still reminded him of that woman, even to the very end of her life.

So he broke into laughter. One that was so loud, with his head tipped back, and the room filled with his own voice. The volume managed to make the other vampire flinch, stepping away from him.

“What—“

He was starting to get sick of avoiding the parallel, so might as well enjoy it.

With the thought in mind, Yeonjun had his gaze back on the redhead, finding the confused gaze and smiling as he pulled Taehyun back to him, relishing in the satisfaction running through his body as he saw a flash of fear crossing the newborn’s eyes, even for that split second, at his words.

“Brave of you to make that promise, Kang Taehyun,” he scoffed. “Your life is mine now.”

For someone who looked that brave when he made the request, Taehyun looks too dejected about it when the event actually takes place.

“Is it time I pay you back for this request?” Taehyun has calmed down completely when he says that, now already facing Yeonjun’s way. “Are you going to kill me?”

It almost makes him choke with the urge to laugh that might break the solemn mood between them, but he keeps his calm composure as he stares at the other. 

“And what makes you think that way?”

“Sometimes you stare at me like you want to throw me across the room and put a stake on me, but other times you stare at me like you’ve wanted to see me for so long.”

Taehyun might be more attentive than Yeonjun thought. Those stares must be subconscious, as Yeonjun is always careful about not showing his feelings transparently. He has been trained in this for decades, yet someone who’s just barely turned into a vampire could read him like an open book.

Always have a surprise in store, that’s Kang Taehyun for you.

“You just remind me so much of someone,” Yeonjun says, eyeing Taehyun’s curious look from a corner of his eyes. “Someone you don’t know. It’s been more than a century.”

“Damn, you’re old.”

“Shut up.”

“Keep going.”

Taking a deep breath, Yeonjun throws his gaze out of the window, into the empty parking lot that reminds him of the crime he did just moments ago. As he does that, he could feel his gaze stare further into the past. He is at the palace again, catching a glance of blood-stained traditional clothing and a feral countenance of someone he used to love.

“She’s someone who would say that she wanted to spend forever with you, and then go on a killing spree the next day just so someone can kill her.”

As Yeonjun turns his gaze to look at the other, Taehyun seems to be deep in thought. His eyebrows are furrowed, before realization slowly creeps into his expression.

“Are you shading me?” he demands, face contorted in offense.

That sends the vampire into another bouts of laughter, tipping his head back and clutching his stomach. “God. You’re amusing. And no, it’s not you. It was my human mate.”

“Oh.”

“I killed her.”

“Oh?”

“Got into trouble for turning her into a vampire, had to kill her, and had to pay for my crime with my whole life dedicated into the council,” he says, telling his story in the simplest way and shrugging it off nonchalantly as if it’s not a big deal. “Still doing it even now.”

But it is. It still hurts even as he speaks about it now, especially since he is living day by day with his invisible shackle connected to the council. Having to pay for it for the rest of his immortal life.

“That’s cruel even for a vampire.”

“Well, it’s whatever. I got busy with the council stuff, so I have no time to do anything else. Or fall in love, in case it’s going to end up with me having to kill the person again.”

He didn’t realize that he sounds bitter and pathetic, until he lifts his gaze to look at Taehyun’s face again, spotting the other looking at him with a mixture of emotions in his face. One that he can spot is sadness. And god, he doesn’t want a freaking newborn feeling sad for his dramatic past.

“Stop looking at me—“he’s about to complain when Taehyun suddenly reaches a hand out towards him.

Another surprise comes in the form of gentle pets on his hair, before the fingers stroke along his hair upon not receiving a bad reaction from the pureblood. He can only stare at the younger. Confounded.

“You’ve never had the chance to feel like a human human, have you?” Taehyun says. “Stuck with a job that constantly reminds you of a lifetime of punishment. How can you enjoy life in that way?”

“I don’t need you to pity me.”

“I’m not. Just like what you mentioned last time, what did I do to deserve making requests from you? You have always helped me, guiding me to ease into the vampire world, so let me help you this time.”

Yeonjun blinks. “How are you going to help me? I’ve lived for far too many years more than you have.”

“But you’ve never been a human, or free enough to live a life,” Taehyun offers a smile. “So let me help you see that there’s more to life than just being a vampire.”

It’s so weird. Not one that he would expect from a newborn who can only lose his control and snap his teeth at Yeonjun. He is ashamed now, feeling the warmth blooming in his chest from his words. Still, his first reaction is to shake with laughter. A hand coming up to cover his face, before he lets it slide up to brush his hair off his face.

“You’re always so full of surprise, Kang Taehyun,” he says. “I might just have to take that offer.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing, honestly.”

“It’s not, but because of that, I know what I want from you,” he says, locking his gaze with Taehyun’s expectant eyes. The eyes that slowly grow nervous from the dragging silence between them.

He is parting his lips, a complaint probably stuck on the tip of his tongue already when Yeonjun beats him to it.

“Run away with me.”

==

The room is eerily quiet when Myungjoo walks in.

It’s not a surprise, since he was the one who designed this solitary room for punishment. A tiny space to let his vampire children reflect on their wrongdoings. Except, the ones who had experiences staying inside this small confinement always returned because of another case some other day.

You’d think that it’s enough of a sign that the method of disciplining does not work, but the pureblood still does it anyway. Over and over, until he deems the child as a hopeless case. Disposable.

That’s the case for Choi Beomgyu. A promising kid, making use of his pretty face in his early vampire days, until he started acting up because of the whole soul mate business. The curse vampires were born with.

Now that he is aware his son has been fraternizing with the enemy, he doesn’t feel an ounce of remorse within him seeing his son’s lifeless body.

Seeing a piece of folded paper on the floor, he crouches down to take it. It’s marred with splatter of blood, but the inside part is still clean, save from the handwriting scribbled over it. Of course he is familiar with Haru and his way of seeing the world. A stray pureblood with a different opinion than the council’s.

A disgrace.

_ Who gave you the right to decide who deserves to die? _

The very first line already makes him scoff. He should’ve known back then that it sounds awfully familiar. Then he’d be convinced way earlier that his son has really strayed from the right path, and would have an excuse to eliminate him without a third party.

“I wonder, son. Who gave me the right to decide who deserves to die and not?” he asks the unresponsive body before him. A sick smile plastered on his lips as his fingers play with the folded letter, not bothering to read the rest of the letter. “ _ I _ gave me the right. You could’ve been at the top with me if you weren’t so self-righteous.”

The moment of triumph only lasts for a very short moment, because the next time he has his eyes back on his dead son, he is stunned by a pair of silver, icy eyes coldly staring at him.

==

This really is not how death feels like, since beomgyu had been so close to it before. But this is how revenge felt like.

He didn’t think it’d work this well, since everything was done without any preparation. One moment he is prepared to die, and then the next second, he has a silver dagger landed within his reach. The rush of being so close to death has him paralyzed on the floor, eyes wide as he stares up at Soobin and his bloody hand.

The vampire had sliced his own hand with the silver dagger instead of breaking Beomgyu’s chest open for his heart. His blood drips down from the gaping wound, staining the front of Beomgyu’s shirt, then all over the floor.

“I can’t… I can’t be here,” Soobin gasps out, stumbling backwards and tearing his gaze away.

If Beomgyu is in disbelief over the turn of events, Soobin is even more so. He looks like he meant all the things that he said prior, so now that he is actually trusting Beomgyu with his blade, it must have taken a lot.

Beomgyu can’t fail him this time.

That’s why he has no more doubts left in him the moment he launches himself to his father, toppling the most powerful pureblood a vampire has ever known into the cold floor. The surprise element was everything. 

Without missing a beat, he sinks the dagger right into his father’s chest..

“Hi, daddy,” he says, a smirk etched onto his lips as he stares down at the face of the man he calls his father. The handsome, young face of this man who has lived for too long that he starts feeling like he has the right to rule over all the vampires in the world.

The thrill of satisfaction blooms in Beomgyu’s chest, knowing that he is probably the only person who has ever seen Choi Myungjoo in such a vulnerable state.

“You… this can’t be,” the vampire chokes out, blood spluttering from between his lips.

Being the powerful vampire he is, he still has enough strength to throw Beomgyu off him, scooting back until he is rested against the wall. Still, even the strongest vampire can’t possibly retain his life when he has a silver dagger lodged deep in his heart. It’s just pathetic that he tries.

Beomgyu gasps when his back meets the metal door, but he is laughing loudly, freely. Mockingly.

His laughter slowly dies down, as he watches the light slowly go out in Myungjoo’s eyes. In the end, he is left staring solemnly at the lifeless body of his father. The room is engulfed by its former eerie silence again.

“Goodbye, daddy.”

When he finally gathers himself enough to walk out from the room, he grimaces at the sight of the bodyguard slumped on the floor. His neck broken. That would give him the room to escape without anyone knowing that he’s done the biggest sin of murdering his own father.

In his defense, he learnt it from that very same father who has no remorse when he kills off his problematic children one by one.

The weight of the sin slowly sheds off his shoulders the more steps he takes towards the exit of the house, and he can finally breathe again when he is out of the suffocating place. The sunset is casting orange-violet lights everywhere, painting a beautiful picture that almost reduced him into tears.

Because this is what welcomes him the moment he is freed from the chains. This is what he’s been missing for the first few decades of his life where he was caged down by this rotten family.

But most importantly, it’s because he spots Soobin at the terrace.

Tears start welling up in his eyes as he makes his way towards the vampire, who notices him right away. There’s no trace of the coldness from that room, only warmth and acceptance, as Soobin opens his arms to accept him into his embrace.

Beomgyu leans his head against Soobin’s shoulder, exhaling his words shakily. “Thank you for coming for me. As you always do.”

“I wanted to.”

It takes a few moments for Beomgyu to blink his tears away, basking in the comfort radiating from the other. His fingers are clutching onto Soobin’s shirt, refusing to let go, as he lets the elder sway them gently from side to side.

How could he risk everything by coming home to his father’s home without any plan, when he already had everything he ever wanted in Soobin’s arms. 

Beomgyu is shaken out of his thoughts as he feels cold fingers brushing away the trace of blood from his face, making him flinch at the reminder of the bloody state he’s in. He leans into the touch, cheek mushing onto Soobin’s hand, before he turns his head to press a kiss to the slowly healing wound carved into the vampire’s palm.

“Please take me back,” he whispers, voice straining from the despair seeping out into each syllable.

It’s only now that the fear comes back to him in strong waves. He had left so abruptly that night after the perfect date they had. He had failed Soobin yet again, almost ruining the chance of a happy ending they have in store. It would be a miracle if Soobin still wants him even after all that.

But the elder still has his hand on Beomgyu’s cheek, and his eyes are still filled with warmth, even with a hint of pain hidden deep inside them.

“Sorry to keep you waiting for so long,” he says tenderly. “I’m taking you home, my soulmate.”

Beomgyu’s eyes sting again, but this time it’s for a whole different reason than the first time. Soobin is looking at him with the eyes full of love again, and not the cold, murderous gaze he witnessed in the chamber.

It feels like coming home.


	21. Chapter 21

_ Yeonjun _

The airport is filled with people swarming around the vast area and minding their own business, unaware of a couple of nightly creatures lurking amidst them. Perhaps even more than a couple, seeing how the vampire community is not exactly flamboyant about their identity.

Still, there is no way to miss a model-looking male clad in a yellow shirt who is standing a head taller than everyone else. The way his hair is blazing in pink colour only provides more help for Yeonjun to find him among all these humans.

“I let you go back a week earlier and you got signed to be an idol?” he pushes his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose to get a better look, only to earn a shove to his shoulder.

“Shut up. I’m not like you who can stay blond for the past three years.”

“I’ve been blond for the past fifty years or so, get your facts right.”

Taehyun only rolls his eyes, shoving the latter aside to get his bag. It always amazes him, how the bright-haired vampire could always adapt so quickly wherever he landed. They have been travelling to various countries together, and Taehyun never managed to look out of place in these places.

A lot of new places and faces. A lot of new firsts.

It’s the way Taehyun could make him feel excited about these firsts that fascinated him, as if Yeonjun is not the one who has lived way too many decades longer than the newborn vampire.

It’s also the way Yeonjun can feel at home even when being introduced to these new places every time they move. Being with Taehyun is like bringing a piece of home with you. Something that keeps him from floating away with all the changes happening in his life. A small consistency in his new nomad lifestyle.

Taehyun acts as a rock in his overflowing river, keeping him from being swept away by the current.

Despite the fact that they have been spending every single day with each other for the last three years, they didn’t have a lot of serious talks. Things went by in a flash. A freedom to live in the present without being tied to their past and future. After all, they didn’t know each other too well to judge each other’s pasts.

Yeonjun is merely the vampire who helped Taehyun escape the nightmare of being a feral, and Taehyun is repaying him by showing him the world in his otherwise prisoner kind of life.

At least that was the case, until the night they decided to put a pause to their little escapade. They were no longer a couple of friends basking in their newfound freedom, instead a pair of homesick boys looking down to the city view from the balcony of their rented apartment room in Rome.

“We’ve been here for three months,” Taehyun brought up the topic first.

They had made a rule in the beginning to not stay in a same city for longer than three months. No room for attachment, relationship, or newfound responsibilities. Only the two of them.

“Yeah?”

“Can we pick Seoul as our next destination?”

Yeonjun looks up from his phone, eyeing the younger who is not meeting his eyes. They had been spending too much time together that he could tell what the other was thinking just from his body language. This time, it was so obvious even for him, that Taehyun was missing home.

After all, he was the one who actually left home when they ‘ran away’. He left his family, friends, and career behind, all to make it up to Yeonjun for granting his wish. Even though he kept telling the elder that he also wanted to get away from the city to forget all the bad memories.

It was about time he got over those bad memories, so Yeonjun couldn’t say he was surprised that their journey was coming to an end.

“Yeah, we can do that. I want to see if the council has burned down yet without my presence.”

“You’re giving yourself too much credits,” Taehyun rolled his eyes.

It was silent for a bit, and Yeonjun wasn’t talking solely because he could hear the other thinking loudly. It was drawn in the way Taehyun had his eyebrows furrowed, eyes gazing away to the dim street lights without actually seeing anything. So he waited.

Until Taehyun dropped the question.

“Hyung.”

“Yes?”

“Do I still remind you of your soulmate?” he asked.

This time, Yeonjun was the one who’s not meeting his eyes. It had been too long for him to still be affected upon the mention of that woman. Most purebloods that were born around the same time as he was already moved on from their mates, probably couldn’t even remember the feeling of having a human soulmate at all, along with the lessons they gave them.

The lesson was apparently for the original vampires to cherish humans as their equals. So that they wouldn’t succumb into the brutality of their genes. Their predatory side. It’s barely working judging from how vampires still look down upon humans as a lesser being.

Yeonjun learned that it’s only working when your soulmate died a tragic death in your own hands.

“No, not for a long time now,” Yeonjun admitted after a small thoughtful moment, because just like what he had said, he hadn’t been associating the two together anymore. Unlike the earlier times they knew each other. “You made me realize that I never actually figured her out, especially now that I’ve known you for longer than I did her. You two had similar fucked up past stories, but that’s it.”

“Huh? Are you sure you’re not in love with me or something?” he deadpanned, saying it with the most impassive look for a statement with such nature.

That broke Yeonjun out of his little nostalgic moment, extending a long leg to shove the younger on his thigh. “Don’t make me throw you off this balcony.”

“You won’t!”

Taehyun was laughing with his head tipped back. His pointy canines were full on show, always sharper than the rest even when he was not in the middle of feeding. That was the reason Yeonjun liked making him laugh so much, aside from the obvious satisfaction he derived from making the younger happy in his presence.

“It’s the thing you did for Kai that made me realize that you’re nothing like her at all,” Yeonjun said, drawing his knees to his chest and hiding his smile when Taehyun looked at him with round, curious eyes. “She’s the type to support that decision, just so she could spend forever with her lover. A little pain is nothing compared to what they could have in the long run, but you, you don’t want that for the people you love.”

“Being a vampire is not that bad. What if I take a one hundred and eighty degree and want it for him now?” he said, playfulness twinkling in his eyes.

“Yeah? There’s no way you can make me bite him again.”

Yeonjun groaned, hiding his face against his knees for a moment. When he looked up, Taehyun had stopped laughing, and instead he was so close. The younger had crawled towards him during that brief moment he wasn’t looking. All the playfulness of the conversation dissipated into the air, replaced by warmth and comfort, pulsating from the contact of their eyes.

“Hyung, I’m not her.”

“I know.”

“If it would make you feel better, I’ll love you more than she ever had the chance to.”

Yeonjun blinked a few times, wondering how the latter could say it without batting an eye. “Fuck, that’s corny,” he whispered under his breath.

The comment drew a smile from Taehyun’s lips, but that was not enough to make him pull away. Before they knew it, Yeonjun’s legs that were kept up as a barrier between them were set down, and Taehyun was allowed to get close. Too close, to the point that Yeonjun could taste him on his tongue before their lips even met.

It was a chaste and sweet contact. Full of trust and the feeling of being able to depend on each other, much like the essence of their relationship. And just like their relationship that came with bickering and endless laughter, they ended up separating because of the urge to laugh.

Yeonjun had his head tipped back while Taehyun leaned his head onto his shoulder. It was nice, but it didn’t feel right. Not yet.

“Too soon?” he offered, ruffling the younger’s hair.

“Too soon.”

“Yeah, what do you expect, when you’re still hung up on a dead fiancée and an amnesiac ex-boyfriend.”

“Like you’re one to speak, with that homicidal soulmate of yours.”

Just like that, they fell back into the normal dynamic of their friendship. The kiss is never brought up anymore even until now that they are back in Seoul.

There’s already so much to catch up when Taehyun just went back to the city a week earlier. He told Yeonjun about his family, and how he reconnected with his friends who almost forgot about him after his abrupt disappearance, but not Beomgyu yet.  _ Too close to home _ , he said.

And just like Taehyun who’s always full of surprises, he drops the bomb only as he is dropping Yeonjun at his apartment.

“I think, this time, I’m going to stay.”

Yeonjun was just unbuckling his seatbelt when he suddenly says that, which makes him slowly raise his gaze at the younger. It’s not that he didn’t expect Taehyun to come into this decision after they got back to the city. It’s that he didn’t expect the vampire to tell him this soon.

“I’m guessing that it’s not followed by an invitation for me to stay?”

Taehyun sputters, probably coming up with so many excuses that they all jumbled up together. It makes Yeonjun burst into laughter. “Chill, I’m just playing with you,” he claims, shaking his head. “I was already prepared to go on my own, anyway. That night you said you wanted to go home, I already expected that we’re ending this.”

“You’re talking like we won’t ever see each other anymore.”

“Could be months or years, time is a weird concept when you’ve been living for too long,” Yeonjun says, only to coo when he sees the displeased frown on the other’s face.

It’s funny, how their relationship turned this way when they had hated each other the first time they met. He could feel it from the way Taehyun stared at him with a murderous look countless of times when he was still under Yeonjun’s supervision. As if he was claiming Yeonjun as the first guy he’d kill if he ever snapped and went feral.

“Will you be okay without me?” Taehyun scoffs, earning a shove on his cheek by Yeonjun’s palm. “Stop that!”

“Don’t act like you won’t be the one missing me too much!”

“Like hell I would.”

“You’re like, in love with me. You’d totally check me out if we were strangers and you spot me at a nightclub. Am I right?” Yeonjun keeps pushing with his teasing, even reaching out to hold his chin and rub his cheeks.

Taehyun hisses and leans away, though all the rejection didn’t match the look of amusement drawn in his eyes. “Stop flirting with me, hag. I have a boyfriend.”

“A boyfriend who doesn’t even know you exist. Weird concept.”

“Fuck off from my car before I throw your trunk into the sea,” he rolls his eyes.

Yeonjun actually takes it as a cue for him to leave. He heaves a sigh, getting out from the passenger seat and taking his suitcase from the trunk before he stops by the window that’s already rolled down.

“This won’t be the last time we see each other, right?” Taehyun asks, the subtle lines drawn between his eyebrows are showing that he’s obviously trying so hard to hide his worry from surfacing in his visage. Yeonjun cuts him some slack and decides not to tease him for this.

“Absolutely, cause I’m going to put this bag upstairs and when I come back, you’d still be here to drive me to the council building.”

“You’re making me your chaperone,” Taehyun’s groan sounds in the background, muted off by Yeonjun’s triumphant laugh as he walks away from the car and into the building.

After all, he already booked a flight and is going to be in the airplane towards another side of the globe by tonight, and this would really be the last time they see each other if Taehyun hadn’t addressed it. But if today is going to be the last day in a long time that he is going to see these people who actually matter to him, he should make the most out of it.

==

_ Soobin _

“Don’t you think our current supervisor looks a little weak?”

“How so?”

The interest from his workmate has the desk officer rolling his chair towards her working space. His face is getting too serious despite this being just another gossiping session during the working hour. The topic is not even an original one, seeing to how it’s brought up every other week since the change of leadership figure in the department.

“He’s not as assertive as Yeonjun-ssi. Also, sometimes he doesn’t even give off the vampire vibe. Even if he’s in the room with you for hours, you won’t know that he poses as a threat.”

“Is that bad? I think that’s even scarier, like something dangerous hiding in calm water” the girl hums, tapping the table with the end of her pen. “Besides, there’s a rumour that he killed the last supervisor to get this position.”

“He did  _ what?” _

Adding more into the suspense, she lowers her voice as well as she says the next piece of information. “Also, hear me out. People are saying that he is dating a criminal.”

Even though that last piece of information is not entirely wrong, they are having too much fun with the whole topic that Soobin finally makes his presence known. He clears his throat, biting back a smile seeing a mortified expression in the male officer’s face just before he rolls himself back towards his desk.

“The internet is down, so I have to hand out the schedule on my own,” the vampire says, dropping a printed sheet of paper on top of Jungeun’s desk. “Only to find out that my team is talking about me behind my back.”

She smiles sweetly at him, no trace of guilt on her face. “I defended your honor.”

“By inventing that rumour about Yeonjun?”

“It works. People think it’s hot that you two fought for the position and you came as the winner.”

That makes him groan, running a hand down his face at what his reputation has become in this place. He was respected for being a nice and hardworking officer, and now he is only known as the second, less glorified Choi Yeonjun because of his blood status.

It’s not that he wanted the position.

After the incident in Myungjoo’s house, Yeonjun took over the investigation of the case. A murder of your workplace’s founder is not something that you see every day. Not to mention that the man is arguably the most important figure that keeps the foundation of the council’s higher ups.

But being Yeonjun, he didn’t take a full day to know what’s happening in that crime scene.

Soobin had a feeling of impending danger when he was called in to join the investigation team, only to end up being cornered in the crime scene itself by the blond. The corpse was already moved, but there was still blood everywhere. The presence of silver decorating the confinement room only made him feel dizzy, mixing with anxiety and making it the worst concoction of emotions.

“Beomgyu killed him, right?” Yeonjun went straight to the point. “Initially, I was convinced that it’s your doing, but the staking was too clumsy for an experienced officer.”

Soobin didn’t answer right away. He was standing there with a stoic expression on his face, yet his brain was running on full capacity as he tried to find a way out of this accusation. He thought that getting rid of the CCTV footage and any proof that they were ever in the house would have been suffice in taking out his and Beomgyu’s names out of the suspect list.

He didn’t consider Choi Yeonjun as a variable.

“This, along with his record of involuntary feeding and feral behaviour? I don’t think there will be a good outcome for him,” he started speaking again before Soobin could think of a way to evade this pressuring conversation. “We’re looking at a death sentence.”

At that, Soobin snapped his gaze back to the elder. His eyes wide with mortification, and that alone was the confirmation needed by the pureblood. Judging from his triumphant smirk.

“Is there really no way out of this? We know that he almost went feral after getting attacked, multiple times at that. Also the thing with Myungjoo was partially because that man wanted to kill him first, shouldn’t it be ruled as self-defense? I was the one who prompted him by giving him the weapon too,” he went on a full-blown blabbering, not even realizing that he had spilled the truth that would be a disadvantage for Beomgyu in the trial, if he were really to be arrested by the council.

“There are lots of ways actually. He was holding that note when he died, so we can make Haru a scapegoat. There were no actual witnesses to the feeding spree Beomgyu did when he was feral, so he can’t really be tried for it, aside for the running away.”

That almost gave him hope. He would let himself feel the relief over these facts, if only it was not for the expression in Yeonjun’s face. He was familiar to it, after spending so much time working under his wings. It was disapproval. Yeonjun was not providing a solution to this problem, he was merely stating possibilities.

After all, for the man, the council always comes first.

“But you wouldn’t do it,” Soobin said quietly. A statement more than a question or accusation.

“It’s against ethics.”

“Since when are we sticking to that? You bent that the day you gave me a chance to retain my human side, when you trusted me. Is there a way you can trust me again for this situation?” Soobin said. He sounded too desperate for his own liking, but he would do anything if it meant that Beomgyu could stay alive.

He couldn’t lose Beomgyu again. Not after all they had gone through.

“I’m not going to do it, Soobin-ah,” Yeonjun said. That was it, the finality in his voice that almost made Soobin crumble, already piecing up a plan to run away even though the council would probably chase them to the end of the world. “But you can.”

That stopped his train of thoughts, making him stay stunned, blinking at the elder. “Me?”

“You can do that, if you were me.”

“What are you on about—“

“Kill me, Choi Soobin. Take over my position so you can save your soulmate.”

The pause was excruciating. Yeonjun sounded like he actually meant it, and he would just stand there if Soobin had charged him right there.

It made Soobin feel even worse, that he wanted to do it. There was a rush of adrenaline traveling down his system, making his jaw set and his muscles tense, ready to charge, if only he didn’t end up slapping himself in the face.

“What the fuck?” he hissed, turning around to pace around the cramped space, throwing his hands in disbelief. “You’re so sick for that.”

As if to rub salt into his gaping wound, Yeonjun just had to laugh. He looked so entertained, clutching onto his stomach and leaning back against the wall as he watched the younger stressing out.

“You almost took the offer. Fuck, Soobin-ah, you’ve changed so much.”

“I hate you. I know I said this a lot but I mean this right now.”

There was no trace of regret in the blond’s face. He looked thoroughly satisfied, and rather fond, as he stared at the younger vampire who was on the verge of freaking out. “Remember when you were so black and white? Everything had to go by the rules for you, and any violation deserves a punishment no matter what kind of thing might have triggered it.”

“I wasn’t that bad.”

“You arrested Beomgyu twice just because he did involuntary feeding. Killed him once, too.”

Soobin sucked in a breath through his teeth, irritated at how the other seemed to drag this conversation that was going nowhere. He should be on a plane with Beomgyu, going into hiding.

“What’s your point?” he finally asked.

“The point is that, I can help you set Beomgyu free,” Yeonjun said, allowing the lilac haired male to perk up for an instant moment before he continued. “But you have to take over my place in the council.”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“No! What the hell, hyung? You can’t just—“

Yeonjun held up a hand to cut him off before waving it in dismissal. “I’m afraid that this is the only way for you to save your soulmate, Choi Soobin. You either take it or leave it.”

Despite having heard jokes about it for years, Soobin didn’t know that there would actually be a day where Yeonjun gave him the ultimatum to take over his job. Their time was not limited, so it could be decades or even a century later that Soobin could move up the rank in their workplace.

But Yeonjun wanted it now, and Soobin couldn’t take a risk of saying no. Not when Beomgyu had returned his trust sevenfold when he took the silver dagger he dropped and lifted it against his dad.

In return, Soobin would do anything to keep him safe.

That’s how he found himself launched full force into the sea of responsibilities. With how much Yeonjun slept and partied all day when he was working under the guy, he didn’t think Yeonjun would have this much work to do. But the hyung always worked so hard without showing it, and Soobin can’t help but to admire him for it.

Even though the pureblood is nowhere in sight for him to admire.

After helping him with Myungjoo’s incident, as well as freeing Beomgyu of all charges with a loose house arrest, he disappeared without any words. Apparently, it also coincided with the disappearance of Taehyun and Huening Kai, according to Beomgyu.

So, imagine his surprise, when he comes back to his office only to find the said pureblood sitting behind his brand new desk. His feet, clad in leather boots, are propped up onto the top of his closed laptop.

The blond perks up when he enters the room.

“Three years later and the internet connection in this place still sucks? Reminded me of why I left in the first place.”

“What the fuck?” he whispers under his breath. And no, that’s not because of his laptop’s condition under those heavy shoes.

“Missed me?” Yeonjun says, a familiar smirk playing over his lips.

He looks different. Younger than Soobin remembers, with his blond hair dyed a pinkish shade on the tips. Without the authority and title burdening his shoulders, he looks more carefree. Much like a college student. A figure who looks so out of place in this office that used to be his.

“What… how…” Soobin is still stunned, trying to piece up a sentence. There are so many things he wanted to say to Yeonjun, but also nothing.

So he lets Yeonjun do all the talking to catch up, over coffee that doesn’t taste like anything for them. They stop by a café near the council building, enjoying the smell of the caffeine beans that Yeonjun might actually love more than alcohol.

“Why did you leave?” The question only comes a little later. After a lot of catching up and they don’t feel like a pair of strangers anymore. Three years means nothing when you live longer than humans do, but still feels like a long time when it’s carried out without any explanation.

Yeonjun takes a moment before answering, but it looks like he has expected this question. “That would be because of you kids. Seeing you was one thing, and then you brought Beomgyu and his friends into the equation? It became an interesting mess.”

“How so?” he arches a brow.

“You guys are so mundane for someone so old like me, but the more you dig deeper, you’ll find more complexity, followed by endless problems daily. I think I’ve seen more drama in those few months compared to a century of living.”

“That can’t be true,” Soobin deadpans. “You always had some fun stories to tell.”

“How much of them actually happened? How could someone like me have such a life, Soobin-ah? I was chained to the council ever since it was built. It was a lifetime of punishment, and I saw the chance to escape when Myungjoo died, and I took it.

“Long story short, I wanted to feel like a human for once.”

The conclusion of his answer had Soobin watching him with fascination filling his eyes. Whatever happened in the three years of his disappearance must have affected his life strongly, since Soobin can feel a different air from the male sitting across from him. A different light.

It feels like Yeonjun is actually alive.

The proud and smug pureblood vampire Choi Yeonjun, who has never related to humans or having any compassion for them.

“How did that go?” Soobin asks further, intrigued.

“Well, someone helped me with the whole human thing. It’s not—“

Before Yeonjun can go into details, they were interrupted by a commotion of someone entering the café, and going straight to their table. It’s the male officer who was gossiping, so that explains why he looked horrified for a split second when he saw Yeonjun, and only remembers his purpose of being there when his gaze shifts towards Soobin.

“Soobin-ssi, we received a tip about an involuntary feeding a few blocks away from here,” he says, his back so straight as if he’s reporting for duty in the army.

The officer frowns at the information. “And why are you telling me this instead of going to check?”

“The patrol officer told me to report it straight to you because it’s the vampire under your supervision.”

That one crucial piece of information had Soobin jumping out of his seat, quickly taking his phone to check the tracker application. It’s showing the red dot not being in his apartment like it’s supposed to, but located in an alley behind some famous night clubs.

A really familiar location. It was where Beomgyu used to find his victims during the period where he was feeding out of fun.

“Oh fuck, not again,” he curses under his breath. “I need to go fetch Beomgyu.”

“Duty calls? You can go then. Seems like he’s still causing troubles for you,” Yeonjun says.

“You have no idea,” he groans, but still stuck on his seat, hesitating because Yeonjun’s stay seems so fleeting. It feels like the elder can disappear again anytime soon when he is not looking. “Will you still be around? I still have so many things to ask from you.”

Yeonjun sighs, reaching out to ruffle Soobin’s hair. “I’ll visit your office again sometime. Just go for now before the brat gets in trouble.”

“I’m taking your words!” Soobin says with a warning before he thanks the officer, who flinches when he breezes past him for the exit. He will have to trust Yeonjun, that they will get to meet again sometime soon.

For now, to a more important matter.

==

_ Taehyun _

“You’re alive.”

Screw his vampire genes to have Beomgyu looking the same as he was years ago, and even better looking in fact, considering that he is modelling for bigger brands now. Taehyun has been keeping tracks on his works on the internet. All those magazine covers and interviews with big names in the industry.

_ A vampire-like charm _ – that’s what people like to put in subtexts for Beomgyu’s pictures.

Taehyun is not sure how the elder can be so shameless receiving that title, as well as acting like he hasn’t heard from Taehyun in ages when they have exchanged messages a few times throughout his ‘disappearance’. Unlike Yeonjun, he still feels a sense of attachment to his home and everyone around him.

That’s why he has this fear, that the moment he dropped Yeonjun at the council’s building earlier would be the last time he sees the older vampire. He sure hopes he made an impact, a little speck of colour imprinted inYeonjun’s forever.

“If you come and hug me right now you might as well consider me dead because I’ll never—yah,” he hisses when the elder keeps walking towards him with his arms spread.

He’s not stopping until he throws himself at the male who’s already giving up, standing there with a bottle of wine clutched in an arm while Beomgyu latches towards him with his wet clothes. Taehyun should’ve turned around and left when he saw that this photoshoot requires Beomgyu to be half-submerged in water. His black shirt sticks to his frame and his hair is decorated with droplets of crystalline water, giving a dreamier look to his visual.

With the vampire being this close, Taehyun can also see the black choker circling around his neck. It’s his new trademark. A vampire-like visual with all black clothing, chokers, and gleaming silver eyes.

The reality is that the choker signified years of punishment. A collar that ties him down to the council for his crimes.

Noticing the stare to his neck, Beomgyu’s hand flies up to touch it when he pulls away.There’s a flicker of discomfort, which he plays it off with a smug smile. “Isn’t it hot?”

“I can trust you to make the most out of your punishment, at least.”

“So, you think it’s hot.”

Beomgyu is looking too happy about it now, so Taehyun just shoves the wine bottle to the elder’s hand and acts like he’s going to leave. He ends up getting dragged towards a waiting room instead, where the vampire changes into dry clothes, rubbing a towel into his damp hair.

“I just can’t believe you’re still alive after running off with Choi Yeonjun,” he claims, happily admiring the wine bottle he just got as a souvenir – one thing he demanded from Taehyun the day he got the news that they were coming back to Seoul. “Thanks for this, by the way.”

“You’ve said that countless times for the past three years.”

“My point still stands.”

“Choi Yeonjun was the one who saved you from the worst punishment the council can come up with,” Taehyun rolls his eyes, coming closer just to give a light tug on his choker, earning a hiss from the elder who throws him an indignant look. “This, at the price of killing your own dad?”

“I’m not downplaying his role in helping me, it’s just funny how things played out. One moment I heard that you’re dating Kai, and then the next thing I know is that he doesn’t even recognize me anymore.”

Now, that’s the one thing Taehyun regrets as well. It’s not like he wanted Kai to cut off his ties with everyone associated with the vampires, but there’s no telling to what extent the compulsion can go when it comes to affecting someone’s memories. Based on Beomgyu’s stories, Kai appears to have no recollection of meeting Beomgyu or Soobin as well instead of just Taehyun, and the whole details about the vampire side of the society.

“How is he?” Taehyun doesn’t recognize his voice when the question slips out, only to be alarmed when he realizes. His gaze snapping up just to see the other’s knowing smile.

“He’s doing well, took a hiatus and came back just to switch into the music industry. I didn’t know he could sing and play piano that well.”

Now, that’s another thing Taehyun was guilty about when they were still friends. It’s not like he was completely oblivious to what Kai’s feelings back then and what he did just to make sure they stayed close. That includes giving up on his actual dreams.

That’s the only good thing that comes out from this incident, and Taehyun tries to be happy about it despite the constant ache that comes to his chest every time he thinks about the friend.

It’s funny how a heart can still feel pain even when it’s not even beating anymore.

If he was lost in deep thought, it seems like Beomgyu is more consumed with darker thoughts. As he looks up to catch Beomgyu’s eyes again, he caught a pair of solemn eyes staring at him. It reminds him of the pair of eyes of the vampire who’s nearly driven into madness, that night in the dimness of his room. His biggest regret was not being much of a help back then. Beomgyu had always been there for him when he was being a stubborn, newly turned vampire, and he let the pureblood suffer alone.

“Stop thinking right now,” Taehyun warns with a sigh.

“I’m not even—“

“You’re going to say sorry for making me like this,” he says, smirking when he caught the elder gaping in surprise at his accusation. So it’s not incorrect, at least. “Don’t. I’m already accepting what I am. I’m happy, Beomgyu hyung.”

“Are you?” he tips his head to a side, looking much like a curious puppy.

“Yes.”

And really. He sometimes hates how Beomgyu looks so shallow and nonchalant, yet always caught on to something nobody ever did.

“If you really did, how come you’re still not talking about Hyejoo?”

It doesn’t help that he’s always straightforward about it, too, that Taehyun is caught off guard, unable to come up with an excuse. He’s just been burying it so deeply all this time, fully aware that he can only ignore the problem for so long.

If he actually intends to come back to his roots like what he claimed to Yeonjun, it’s time to visit the  _ root _ of it all.

Lee Hyejoo is Taehyun’s beginning.

If he were to think about his past; the period of his childhood, adolescent, and young adult phase, Hyejoo is always present throughout it all. A first friendship. The first person he trusts outside of his family. The first person who sees him as Kang Taehyun and not a child prodigy. His first love. The first person he wanted to commit to.

His first heartbreak. The first time he had to let go of something so abruptly – one moment you think you had all the time in the world, and then the next second it’s already wrenched out of your grasp.

His first ending.

That day he lost Hyejoo in that car accident was also the day he put an end to his mortal, mundane life. He was dead that day, and still dead for the next few months, until he decided to embrace what he has become after he finished his training with Yeonjun.

But even then, he was still unable to acknowledge that it was really the end. Each day he lived avoiding any thought and mention of Hyejoo’s name is a betrayal to her name.

Today, Taehyun is visiting his root, his beginning and ending, quite literally.

It comes in the form of a bouquet of sunflowers placed on top of a marble stone. Her name is carved neatly over the glossy surface, along with the date that’s etched into his brain in blood.

“I’m here to say goodbye,” he says, keeping himself in the squatting position, as if she could hear him better this way. “For the longest time, I thought doing this would kill me, which is funny as I’ve been dead a few times after the first time. But it’s more bearable now. Time heals everything, huh?”

He shuts his eyes, taking a moment to bask in the moment. The relief settled upon him, soothing his heart from the weight he’s been carrying. The cold wind breezing over the graveyard, caressing his cheek and telling him that he is in the present. He is alive in the way he has accepted himself.

And that’s it. The acceptance.

This is what he’s needed all along.

“Thank you for all the memories,” he breathes out, smiling at the name on the marble top again before he gets up.

He feels so free now that he could probably make a run towards his car, or shout from a hill top. Though all the thoughts about that dissipated from his head the moment he turns around and almost walked straight into someone’s chest.

He hasn’t gotten over the surprise of having someone else in the vicinity when he feels every muscle in his body freezes upon recognizing the male before him. There’s no mistaking the face that was always present for most of his life. The person is materializing from his memories, solidifying into his human form. Except, there’s no sign of recognition in his eyes.

Huening Kai has always looked beautiful, being a top rookie model he was, but at this moment, Taehyun thinks that he looks absolutely ethereal. It might just be his head playing with him because he missed the guy so much.

It’s so fucking unfair.

“Hi?” Kai offers, lips stretched into a smile. “Am I interrupting a crying session? I’m sorry. I can come back later.”

“No, it’s fine. I was just about to leave,” the vampire answers quickly, eyes still open wide and staring at the guy. He is real, in person, and he is talking to Taehyun.

Instead of leaving like what he intended, he stands stunned there as Kai side-steps him, walking towards the side of the grave. He steals a glance from a corner of his eyes, watching as the male lowers himself down to put another bouquet of flowers next to the one that’s already present. The contrast of yellow and red is glaring from the view.

“Can you believe that it’s been four years?” he finally speaks again, almost making Taehyun jump since Kai is actually talking to  _ him _ . “Even now, it doesn’t feel real that she’s gone.”

“I know. She was so important to me.”

“Likewise.”

For a moment, Kai stays quiet as he stares down onto the grave, that Taehyun feels like that’s his cue to leave. He got a closure with his ex-fiancee and he got to see his ex-boyfriend for the last time. That sounds like a perfect ending to leave the past behind so he can start a new chapter of his life.

If only it’s not for the fact that Kai is calling out for him again. He always does this, ruining Taehyun’s perfect plans.

“I don’t know who you are, but I think we both know what you are.”

That statement is full of traps. There’s no way of knowing what the guy implied.  _ What _ is Taehyun? As far as he knows, they are strangers now, unless this encounter has undone the magic of Yeonjun’s compulsion, which only means that he’s going to complicate things.

Taehyun is still silent, gears turning in his head and working in full force, to the point that he didn’t realize when the other male had walked away from the grave. It’s only when Kai is facing him again that he snaps out of it. Questions swimming in his eyes when he gazes up at the latter.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t ask how I know, but my patron trained me to spot a vampire even when they are blending amongst humans. You must be from the council side? I’m guessing so because your aura is different. Lowkey. A little fake-classy.”

Taehyun’s brain has gone in disarray. It’s started with the mention of the word  _ vampire _ falling from Kai’s lips, followed by the rest of his words that he can’t process anymore. He has gone through a lot just to make the guy forget about the existence of vampires and  _ himself _ . It can’t just be reduced into nothing.

There’s no way he…

“Are you… Are you a…” he can’t even say it. His words trailing off into silence, that’s answered by a mysterious smile from the latter before he speaks again.

“My bad, I should’ve started with that,” Kai smiles sweetly. Taehyun realized how much he has missed it only now, at the very wrong timing where he is just about to be hit by the worst news in his life.

This coming from Kang Taehyun, who has gone through a series of painful moments back to back.

“My name is Huening Kai, and I’m a vampire.”

==

_ Kai _

Waking up with hollowness in his chest, right next to his unbeating heart, is nothing new to Huening Kai. The counselling lady at the  _ home _ would tell him that it’s the side effect of turning, but Kai would tell himself that he has been feeling this way even before he was made aware of the vampires’ existence.

Every day, he wakes up to a feeling like something is missing from his life, rudely stolen away without any trace. If only someone had taken it away neatly, the feelings won’t be lingering behind like this.

It’s the kind of feeling when you have a name climbing up your throat, and die down on the tip of your tongue before it can roll out in the form of his voice. It’s a feeling of lying down in his bed and his hand instantly trying to wrap around something, or someone next to him, only to realize that it’s always been cold. It’s a feeling of zoning out when you’re walking, only to be led to a totally strange neighbourhood; one that he has no recollection ever visiting before, yet his legs know where to go around it.

When the long haired male showed up out of nowhere, the little forgotten piece inside him  _ knew  _ that this man would help him find his answers.

The encounter was a rather comical one, since the man probably had mistaken him for someone else. He looked taken aback when he started talking about vampires, only for Kai to give him a confused look. The horrified look in that dignified looking visual was everything.

His name is Haru, and instead of walking away after that embarrassment, he stayed behind to talk to Kai some more. It ended with a question that changed his life.

“Since you already know the biggest secret about vampires, would you consider being one?” Haru had asked.

He always spoke in a sweet, persuasive tone, yet at that time, it was a genuine question. Kai found it surprising that the answer came instantly in his head.

The big  _ yes! _

But he didn’t voice it right away, because why would anyone want to turn into a bloodthirsty creature? Sure, there was immortality offered at the table, but he’d be living an eternity being as good as dead – his heart would stop beating, his sense of taste would be numbed, and there was a chance he could have his mind consumed by a feral, less than human side of him.

Even after some time passed since the first time the question was asked to him, the impulsive answer coming from his brain still egged him. It was as if something kept urging him to take the chance; that his purpose waited right there.

A promise that something that he’d been waiting for would show up after he turned.

Being someone who always followed his intuition, he took the initiative of seeking Haru and finally took the offer months after their first meeting.

“That was quite sudden. Are you sure you’re not doing this for someone else?” the vampire asked when they met for the last time before the important date scheduled for his turning.

“I don’t think this is something that you do for someone else…” he trailed off when he saw Haru trying to bite back an amused smile, frowning. “I’m not that shallow of a human. I have reasons.”

“Right. You’re looking for something.”

“Something that’s stolen from me,” he nodded. “I have a feeling that I can’t find it if I stay on the human side of the world.”

“You’re taking a really big step for someone who’s following his feelings. What will you do when you end up regretting it? There’s no going back once you turn.”

At that question, Kai took a minute to ponder. But he already knew the answer.

“Then I’ll spend forever regretting it.”

Oh, there were a lot of regrets after the turning.

It started from that second he felt a pair of sharp canines sink into his skin. It didn’t feel as foreign as it should, especially with the endorphins that were fed into him from the small puncture wounds. He had a taste of the thick, metallic liquid on his tongue, trickling down his throat like a fake sense of comfort. 

And then everything burned.

The pain was so excruciating that he couldn’t tell if he was alive through it all. There were short moments of being sober, where he could grasp his senses. And there were moments where he would be submerged in deep water of unconsciousness, memories floating all over him.

There were a lot of memories about this red haired male which he never encountered, and he remembered wondering if it was a piece of Haru’s memory mixing with his own, but he forgot all about it the first day he woke up in his bed with his whole senses heightened.

Blood was splattered all over his clothes, and smeared over his mouth and jaw when he managed to drag himself towards a mirror in this strange room.

His eyes were gleaming in their dark shade of purple, which dimmed the longer he stared and made sense of the situation. He was no longer human, and he only felt exhilaration and not worries. Not even after figuring out that the blood wasn’t his, and that he probably had taken the blood of innocent humans.

For once, he felt alive.

Ironically so, since his heart wasn’t even beating anymore, and that was the first time he ever felt alive with the rush of newfound excitement and the feeling of actually belonging somewhere.

It was the first time he felt that kind of rush, and the next time is now. This moment as he stares at the fidgeting pink-haired boy he met at the graveyard and accidentally blackmailed into hanging out with him.

“Tea, really?” the guy, Taehyun, says. He’s eyeing the cup of hot tea presented before him, and then at the interior of the place which adopts a traditional feel of a Korean tea party.

“We can’t taste a thing anyway, so might as well enjoy the vibe,” he says, taking a deep breath to catch the relaxing smell of the tea.

He hopes that the scent could calm the other as well, since he looks like he will explode any time soon from how tense he looks. It’s not his fault, since Kai must have surprised him a great deal back then. A vampire needs to keep their identity hidden at all times to be safe, so he can’t blame the other for being so scared of being found out by a human.

He just thinks it’s adorable.

“So, Huening Kai?” Taehyun calls his name, finally looking straight into his eyes for once after they left the graveyard. “Did you do this to every vampire you accidentally meet?”

The question had him blinking a few times before bursting into laughter. “God,  _ no _ . Aside from the fact that I didn’t see a lot of vampires a lot, there’s something that drew me towards you.”

The pink haired male arches his brow. “Something like what?”

“You’re just, super cute.” His blunt answer makes Taehyun choke on nothing, he wasn’t even drinking his tea. The vampire is getting flustered, and Kai is enjoying it too much that he keeps going. “Maybe it’s a kind of soulmate connection? I heard that it exists for vampires. It’s only for pureblood, though, but I think that’s unfair. Are you a pureblood? Maybe I’m your soulmate.”

It takes a minute for Taehyun to make sense of everything that he said despite most of them only being a random thought of his. “First of all, soulmate connection only happens between a vampire and a human, which is why they are called a human mate and…”

“And?”

“Second. Are you flirting with me?”

At this point, Kai is convinced that Taehyun is the most adorable vampire he has ever seen ever since he turned. He tried so hard to sound annoyed, but Kai could see a twinkle inside the pair of his round eyes. A glimmer of excitement so poorly hidden.

“Would you let me? Please tell me that you’re not like, 300 years old or something. I mean, I don’t discriminate, but I don’t think you’d want to want something to do with a barely graduated newborn like me if you have lived for that long.”

Taehyun groans and buries his face in his hands. “No! And stop smiling like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like an idiot.”

The answer makes Kai laugh instead of getting offended. It might have something to do with the way Taehyun looks so flustered, that he just wants to wrap his arms around the shorter male and bury his face into the pink hair just to see if it smells like strawberry.

It’s just his nature that once he sets his mind on something, he will never let it go.

This is the moment where he decided that he is going to make Taehyun fall for his smile, no matter what. After all, he is not going to ignore the feeling invoked inside his chest the first time he saw Taehyun at the graveyard earlier.

One look into the pair of round eyes and he knew that Taehyun would be the answer to his questions.

And he has enough questions to keep them busy for a lifetime.

==

_ Beomgyu _

His hair has finally dried off by the time he gets back home.

Technically, it should be called Soobin’s home, but since he moved in at the beginning of his ‘lifetime of punishment’, the place is decorated with things that scream more of his personality. Even the furniture and wallpaper choices are more vibrant and striking. If he planned to live there for a long time, he figured that he had to leave a more lasting mark so that the elder couldn’t get rid of him.

He was just setting his new collection of wine down on the table when the bell rang.

There are only a few selected people who know where he and Soobin live, but he didn’t expect his mother to show up on the intercom screen when he goes to answer the door.

Just like Beomgyu who cut off all ties with that family ever since his father’s death, she also disappeared without any trace. He’s not prepared with any reaction now that his mom is here in person, looking more alive than he’s ever seen her before.

“I came here to check up on you,” she says with a gentle smile of hers.

As much as Beomgyu wants to despise her for almost siding with his brother during the bloody incident involving Soobin and Kai, he can’t bring himself to chase her away from the place.

That’s how they end up sitting at the dining table, a heavy air hangs between them like a sharp blade that might fall upon them anytime soon. She is the one who breaks the silence first, and Beomgyu regrets how he has forgotten the sound of her voice.

“I guess you’re already aware that I won’t be here if I didn’t have anything to say to you, so I’ll just make it quick,” she says, fiddling with her manicured fingers on top of the table. “I’m leaving, Beomgyu-ah. This is probably the last time you’ll see me.”

Now,  _ that _ , is unexpected.

It’s not that they met often when they were still acting as a big, harmonious family. His parents have always been a couple of distant figures to him, but they were  _ present _ . They did all it takes to build a concept of family to the outsiders.

“And this is only possible because of what you did to Myungjoo, so I have to thank you,” she continues.

The implication behind her words got Beomgyu tense up on his seat. “I didn’t—“

“I know everything. Yeonjun is a friend,” she smiles. A somehow child-like smile that’s spread over her face.

It might have something to do with the way she looks happier now, or that Beomgyu never really looked at her, that he’s only realizing that. She looks very young, probably not even twenty years old when she turned. With her husband gone, she doesn’t have to play the mother role anymore, and maybe that’s why she is starting to look more of her age.

“Well, since we’re going to stop doing this anyway, can I stop calling you mom?” Beomgyu offers.

The initial response is a surprised glint crossing her face, followed by a hint of relief. It’s as if she had always wanted to ask for it. His mother was always a more tacit figure in their pretend household. And it’s only now that Beomgyu realized he never tried to do anything to make things better for either of them.

He nods in affirmation to his request, before her hand reaching out to take his own in a warm squeeze. “I’m sorry for everything, Beomgyu-ah. All this time, I haven’t been a good mom to you, and now I’m leaving just like this. You know how our mental age basically stopped growing as well as our physical ones, and both that man and I weren’t prepared for a family. Especially not to handle the whole vampire community.

I do think you deserve better, but you grew up well despite all these, and I’m happy for you.”

“Yujin-ssi,” Beomgyu tests the name on his lips, the first time he calls her by her actual name. “You don’t have to explain anything to me.”

“I hope you’re happy with your soulmate, even though this was a strange case. An immortal soulmate.” She said, sounding fascinated by the ordeal. It was surprising that she is aware about it despite this being their first time meeting after the incident.

“Did you ever have a soulmate?”

“Myungjoo killed her when we got married, my human. Said that I shouldn’t be too attached to livestocks,” she shrugged, playing it off as nonchalantly as possible despite the sadness swimming in her eyes. They were still looking so solemn when they found Beomgyu’s eyes again. “That’s why I think you got a blessing, Beomgyu-ah. You deserve to be happy.”

It makes Beomgyu feel warm up to the point he has to send her away, for good this time. Still, at the door, he stops her before she turns around, a hand on her shoulder.

“The thing about our mental age, I don’t think it stops you from developing to be a better person. It’s not your fault that Myungjoo is a shitty person, you don’t have to be the same way just because you believe that your mental age got stunted.”

It was blunt, and Beomgyu is ready for any harsh reaction he could evoke from his mom. Instead, she just looks surprised, eyes widening a tad for a few seconds before she exhales a sigh.

“I guess that’s what happened to you, huh?”

Beomgyu smiles, thinking back of how he was before he met Soobin. He was all insolent and rebellious, just because he felt entitled to behave that way for he was unfortunate enough to be born without a human mate. The things he went through with a certain lilac haired vampire had him realizing that his personality has shifted, as well as personality along with his belief. Throughout all that, he also watched Soobin bent his beliefs for him.

Just like humans, vampires could also change and commit to be better.

The electronic black band circling his neck is also a proof, a promise to be better.

When his mother left for good, walking down the corridor and disappearing behind the closed elevator doors, that’s when Beomgyu relaxes again. The only thing that is weighing down his mind is what she said to him earlier.

_ You deserve to be happy. _

And maybe, it’s the confirmation from one of the people from his past that finally launched him into  _ believing _ it.

He deserves to be happy.

His first step to be happy comes in the form of footsteps echoing throughout dark alleys. Thick soles of shoes crunching down gravels beneath them and stepping onto shallow puddles of water from when it rained earlier in the morning. It was the sound that was familiar enough. One he recognized from a long time ago as a certain officer’s footsteps coming towards him when he was feeding on a poor human.

It’s the same officer who is now turning around a corner, eyes frantic as they search around the vicinity before they are locked onto Beomgyu’s.

“What the fuck… you…”

The fear that was formerly drawn all over his face is slowly drained off as it’s replaced by confusion instead, and then irritation, when he spotted the annoying smirk playing on Beomgyu’s lips. The younger vampire only pushes himself off the brick wall he was leaning against, walking his way towards the officer.

“Hi, officer. Fancy meeting you here.”

“What are you up to?” Soobin deadpans, his hand closing over the panel of his smartwatch that he used to track down Beomgyu’s location.

At this point, he should’ve caught off that he was tipped with the wrong information, that he has worried his ass off for nothing. Just another day of dealing with Choi Beomgyu’s mischievous tendency.

“I planted the news to that one scaredy cat officer in your team, hoping that you’d show up just in time for dinner time.”

Soobin looks irked, probably enough to motivate him to snap Beomgyu’s neck again just like that first night of their meeting. But beneath that emotion, there is a clear relief swimming in his eyes, that almost makes Beomgyu feel bad for putting him in this kind of situation again.

Almost.

“You’re so sick for this, Choi Beomgyu,” he complains under his breath, but gives in as he walks closer.

There is always something beautiful in the way Soobin presents himself to him. He’s leaning closer, baring his neck so that Beomgyu can just press his lips to his pulse point and sink his fangs into his skin and taste that sweet, sweet elixir of his soulmate’s blood.

Except he has another purpose today. Instead of going for his neck, Beomgyu slots their lips together instead. It’s a chaste kiss. His lips cushioned by Soobin’s plush lips that parted and exhaled a surprised gasp upon the contact.

It’s the first time they kissed after their first date that’s followed by the life-changing incident. After that, the period of them living together has been filled with them dancing around each other, avoiding the topic leading to Beomgyu’s betrayal, and ignoring the look of yearning from each other. A lot of almost kisses and holding hands, only for them to remind themselves that they are nothing but a pair of vampires tied up by fates for the sake of feeding.

Tonight, he is going to allow anything to get in his way to happiness, and Soobin’s, if he would have him back.

_ And please vampire god, if you are out there somewhere, please make him want me back. _

His happiness being the moment of spending time in Soobin’s embrace just like that day after they sealed their soulmate bond. He wonders how he could last so long fooling himself that he didn’t need to be where he belongs.

“I love you.”

Soobin freezes. His eyes rounding up, staring at him in surprise. “What—“

“That day, you were wondering if this something between us bloomed just because of the soulmate bond. But I’ve known all along that I’d still love you this much even without it, even if I never found my soulmate and lost my mind,” he says, eyes glimmering as he stares at the latter. Warmth blooming in his chest now that he gets to let all the words pour out after being locked inside for so long. “It’s the way you make me feel like my heart is beating again, not reminding me that I’m dead, even though I constantly need to feed. You make me feel like a human, and that might embarrass me as a pureblood vampire, but I love you so much—“

Before he could finish letting go of the jumbled confession, he is at loss of words again as he is being kissed again. It makes his brain short-circuit, losing every rambling he had in store to talk Soobin’s ear off. And then there’s the rush again. The warmth and excitement mixing in his system, travelling towards his heart and producing a ghost of a beat. 

Soobin kisses him deeply. A taste of longing and desperation lingers on its wake. Yet he still has the audacity to be playful when he pulls away.

“You talk too much.”

He feels Soobin’s smile curling against his lips again right after the words reached him, and Beomgyu  _ knows _ that this is the best kind of happiness that he is allowed to have. And he is going to keep him for eternity.

“I never wanted us to be a vampire-human mate. I want us to be lovers,” he declares after they part long enough to collect whatever words in his head after being fried by the multitude of kisses.

“W-what?”Soobin sputters, a faint flush of pink spreads over his cheeks, and that does wonder to Beomgyu’s chest. It clenches tight at the thought of Soobin being this adorable, yet also swells with pride, knowing that he’s the one making the vampire behave like this.

“So?” he prompts.

“Yeah, fuck it, I’m yours.”

And then he is being kissed again, and Beomgyu has never felt so alive in his life before this. Who would have known that the person who would make him feel like a human is a fellow vampire?

But he wouldn’t want it any other way.

(“Can I still have your blood, though?” Beomgyu squeaks in the end, feeling the familiar clawing inside his tummy that’s starting to mix with the feeling of absolute lovesick in his chest. After all, he is still a vampire and Soobin’s neck does look nice under this poor lighting of the street. The way it looked the first time he saw the officer. “Please.”

It was worth it after all, going for a pretty officer’s neck and got murdered that night. If that was the cost he had to pay for an eternity with Choi Soobin, he would do it over and over again.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEEEEY it's finally ending and I'm not proud to say that I spent too many past midnight hours writing this but I'm so so thankful that people are willing to read this T___T this is my longest fic and it's so unexpected since it was originally planned to be finished halfway but I experimented with some more conflicts and... I'm so sorry beomgyu that you had to go through all the pain and suffering but at least now you have your happy ending<3 
> 
> Thank you everyone for reading until the end! would appreciate some feedbacks and maybe questions if there's some things left unanswered (which is very likely!)

**Author's Note:**

> tell me what you think!!!! [twitter](https://twitter.com/soogyulvr) // [cc](https://curiouscat.me/soogyuphobic)


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